


Time Travelling Slythindors

by lindajenner



Series: Harry in Time - Variants on a Theme [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cross-Generation Relationship, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2020-05-20 02:07:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 102,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19367938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lindajenner/pseuds/lindajenner
Summary: What happens when 12 survivors of the Voldemort War find themselves almost three decades years into their past? What happens when they decide to avenge the deaths that should never have happened - before they happen? What happens when Gryffindors become secret Slytherins?





	1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter woke to the sound of tapping. He glanced around the room before slumping back onto the massive coat.

 _‘Great, it wasn’t a nightmare. **Bugger**.’_ He thought, darkly. “Alright, I’m coming.” He opened the window and watched the owl swoop in and drop a newspaper on Hagrid’s sleeping body. Harry sighed and reached for the cloak, digging his hands into the pockets to give the bird a few knuts.

It took some time for Hagrid to wake and be coherent, but eventually they left the island and the Dursley's. Harry read and reread the letter from Hogwarts and every time he compared it to the one in his mindscape. Nothing had changed, it was **_exactly_**  the same.

How? What had happened to place Harry back in this nightmarish life? The last thing he remembered was the veil. He and Hermione had been working with a group of Unspeakables to try and decipher it, but so far, nothing had been learnt other than it was extremely resistant to cutting hexes and blasting charms.

Blasting charms.

Blasting charms…

Blasting… charms…

He sighed.

He'd fired a blasting charm at the, so called, Veil of Death.

It’s official, he’d become a wizard. Only wizards failed to use the brains they were born with.

Dammit, this was not good. He’d listened to Luna and Hermione enough to know that time travel of this magnitude was bad… and permanent. Anything that translocated a being from one time to another, passed the same [equinoctial](relates%20to%20equinoxes%20and%20times%20of%20the%20year) phrase, was irreversible, no matter the method. The only person who'd managed to reverse it, had died within minutes of her return, she was the exeption that proved the rule. Even Hermione, after many months of reading their research, had to concede that the Unspeakables knew what they were on about, hence why time turners were prohibited items.

So this… this was permanent.

But there was a part of Harry that was jumping up and down for joy. This was not going to have the same outcome as last time. How? That was a completely different kettle of nifflers. For now he would just let things play along as his memory said they had.

 

Oh, well... that intention didn’t last long, now did it?

Yes, the changes so far were minor, but they were changes. Changing anything that he knew had already happened, meant the time displacement was permanent, otherwise they’d have already have been set, not to mention the fact that Harry was back as a weedy little runt again, instead of his adult body, as a true time turner would have done. He’d have to deal with that before Hogwarts, Dumbledore’s bindings and charms caused more problems than they averted.

Harry was grateful that Hagrid was as naïve as ever, it allowed him to do things that Dumbledore wouldn’t have approved of. The first being that he snuck his Gringotts key back out of Hagrid’s pocket and into his own and while Hagrid was recovering from the cart ride, Harry had approached the goblins and got a small pouch of ʛalleons converted to pounds, as well as a Gringotts DebitCard. He’d asked and the goblin agreed, for a few ʛalleons, to label all purchases prior to September 1st with the description of ‘school supplies’. Another being that he’d got a few more than just the basic books. And a holster for his wand, he wasn’t going to risk his phoenix feather wand being shoved into his back pocket, Moody had gone on and on about loosing a buttock and while Harry and Ron had laughed, it had only been a few months since Harry had watched that very thing happen to a sweet little second year girl. He wasn’t taking the chance of having his wand broken or being injured for lack of a piece of hide. A different trunk was also added to his list, initially he’d thought of something with multiple compartments, like Moody’s, but after careful consideration, he’d vetoed that. An expanded trunk he could probably justify, but he wasn’t prepared to have Dumbledore alerted by a spending blowout and Harry wasn’t an ‘unofficial’ unspeakable for nothing. All he needed was a visit to the park for a few twigs, he could transfigure those into doorframes to lay runes onto for wizard-space rooms.

 

Hagrid put Harry on the train back to Surrey after a long day. And Harry was extremely glad he’d changed his trunk, this one a feature that alllowed proper wheels to appear when he pulsed his magic into a pictograph of a wheel, which would make moving it so much easier, as he knew he’d have to make his own way from Guildford Station to Little Whinging, by bus. His Aunt opened the door and instead of the vitriol, that normally came from her mouth, she was almost silent.

“They’re watching, aren’t they?” Harry knew who she meant when she used the word ‘they’.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“And you can’t go sooner?” His ‘loving family’ were _**so**_ eager to get rid of him.

“Possibly, but **_they_**  aren’t the only ones watching.” Harry decided to put the fear of god and the government into his family.

“Only…? What do you mean? Not the only ones watching?”

“Aunt Petunia… Uncle Vernon says… he’s been telling people that you’re sending me to St Brutus’ Secure Centre for incurably Criminal Boys. Right?”

Petunia sniffed. “Correct.”

“He told people, I don’t know who, but it was either a teacher or a doctor.”

“So, I fail to the problem.”

“The problem is… there is no St Brutus’, Aunt petunia.”

“What?” The alarm on Petunia’s face was entertaining to Harry.

“Uncle Vernon's telling people I’m going to a school that doesn’t exist. And it’s possible the authorities know. Sure, I could leave right now, but that’s only going draw the authorities attention.”

Harry watched, as Vernon stepped out of the parlour, now he was the one alarmed, he didn't need to deal with a beating, he really didn't.

“How do you know all this, boy? And why haven’t you said anything?” The man’s face was red and heading towards purple, fast.

Harry had to think quick, but the Hat hadn’t wanted to put him in Slytherin for no reason.

“I had to get the bus from Guildford to Little Whinging, when I got off, at the terminal on Magnolia Road, Mrs Culver and Mrs Limpet talking to some man, I’ve never seen him before.” That much was completely true.

“And they were talking about you and your school?” Vernon went pale, his red face gone.

“Not just me, they talked about others, too.” They were the Little Whinging Gossip Mill, them and Petunia.

“Who?”

“The man? I heard him say that Lauren Barton was recommended to a vocational school, as her learning disability will hold her back. The nurse at school said Dudley was overweight and that if something wasn’t done soon, he’d die from heart failure. Miles Bottler was mentioned as being a criminal risk and on a police watch list. Gemma Anderson should go to Cheltenham, but her parents’ can’t afford it, he was going the suggest a scholarship. Matthew Kettering’s parents were telling people he was going to Eton, but he’s actually going to Queen’s College, his parents don’t want to be associated with a monarchy-based school, even though Eton was founded by Henry the Sixth. Sarah Peters is being held back a year, her cancer is back and she’s expected to spend more time in hospital than school, this coming year.” Harry told what he’d learnt about his primary school-mates from Dudley, after the battle of Hogwarts.

“And you?”

“My name was mentioned. Mrs Culver replied something, I didn’t hear exactly, but the man then said that St Brutus’ didn’t exist.” Harry knew that Mrs Limpet was in the process of moving from Little Whinging to Dublin and so had no issues with using her as a means to a better summer. “Mrs Limpet suggested that my situation may be similar to either Gemma’s or Matthew’s. That we were deliberately lying to avoid either boasting or claiming association.”

Vernon gulped and did something that Harry had never though would happen. He asked Harry’s opinion.

“What should we do?”

“Well… We could use Dudley as a reason…” Harry trailed off, his mind racing.

“My Dudi-kins?” Petunia gasped.

“Yes, you could say… it’d have to be done very carefully… but you could say that I will be going to a small but exclusive private boarding school in Scotland, but that as you have to be the child of an alumni to be accepted, Dudley won’t be attending Hogwarts. Instead, he’ll be going to Smeltings. To avoid embarrassing anyone over the fact that he has no chance of going to Hogwarts, you’ve been jokingly calling it St Brutus’.”

“That might work, pet…” Vernon muttered.

“I can make it better, Uncle Vernon.” Harry offered.

“How?” Vernon narrowed his eyes.

“If Aunt Petunia were to have one of her Ladies Afternoons, I could leave my letter out. To anyone that’s not… to anyone **_normal_**  it will show the school name as Hogwarts School of Advanced and Alternative Education.” Harry hadn’t realised that, not until he’d joined Hogwarts staff and been the one to notify muggleborn students.

“How will that help?” Vernon frowned.

“I leave the letter where one of the ladies can see it, we all know that Miss Lewis will read it, she won’t hesitate. And if I were to come in and ask Aunt Petunia where my St Brutus’ letter is and she points to a letter that clearly states Hogwarts…?”

“Amanda Lewis is a dreadful gossip.” Petunia sneered.

“Exactly. If we continue to call it St Brutus’ and she can see that it’s not, what is she likely to do?” Harry asked.

“Oh, the nosy old bat will try to stickybeak.” Petunia sniffed.

“The booklist will read like a typical list for first year, the clothing list is a little more formal than Dudley's, we have to have waistcoats and jackets, not just blazers, along with specific ties, hat and gloves.”

“Really?” Vernon asked, showing the first sign of true interest in Harry, that Harry had ever seen.

“Yes, sir. The list is very precise. From shoes, to socks, to underwear, trousers, shirts, vests, hats, gloves, robes, scarves, jackets, ties and even specific handkerchiefs. Thankfully the casual list is simpler, it just says the number of each type of items and how it’s to be labelled. Which reminds me, Aunt petunia? I need to visit a clothing store, some of the stores in Dia- their shopping alley are too expensive, for the quality you get. You’d be disgusted, Uncle Vernon, their casual clothing is… ugh… dreadful.”

“And you think we’re going to pay for this, boy?” Vernon blustered.

“No, sir. Definitely not. The school are insisting on a minimum level of possessions, so I’ve got a card. The Headmaster’s the one to make the list.” Harry tried to make it sound like the Headmaster was the one to issue the card.

“Ah, that’s different, then. What else besides clothing?” Vernon calmed down.

“Clothing, shoes, toiletries, stationery, novels, games, that sort of thing. I have a limit, I’ve no idea what it is, but apparently there is one.”

“Why would someone tell you there’s a limit and not tell you what the limit was?” Vernon didn’t understand.

“The… man(?) that came for me? Hagrid? He’s the keeper of keys at.. the school, I think he’s only repeating what he remembers, he’s a bit… I don’t think he gets out much.” Harry stumbled over the answer, trying to answer, without actually answering. “One of the shopkeepers suggested that I get my stuff all together and then the week before school starts, double up on stationery stuff. As a first year I won’t be able to leave the school, sure, I can order stuff in, but that’s my only option for restocking, until third year.”

“Better to have too much than not enough.” Vernon nodded, sharply.

“Yes, sir.” Harry said quietly, but inside he was mentally rolling his eyes at the older male.

“Your Aunt and I have an appointment in London tomorrow to see about that… about Dudley's… about what that… man… did to Dudders.” Vernon struggled to get the words out. “We can drop you somewhere, if you can go by yourself, otherwise you’ll have to wait until next week.”

“I can go tomorrow. If you could drop me somewhere near Charing Cross Station, I’ll be fine and I can make my own way home.” Harry was fairly sure that if he could get somewhere that had a reasonable collection of magical people, the small outburst he’d need to break Dumbledore’s bindings would be masked by other peoples’ magic residue. But he needed to get a cap, he wasn’t putting up with the same sort of reaction from the magical public as he had to, so far.

 

By the evening of the 31st of August, Harry felt he was as ready as he was going to be.

His trunk was the only bit he was slightly concerned about. When Hagrid had taken him shopping, the grounds’ keeper had been too big to get into the tiny luggage shop and Harry had taken advantage of that to get a better trunk than the basic ones. After thinking about Dumbledore controlling his vault and the skills he’d learnt, first as an Auror, then expanded on as Head Auror and an ‘unofficial’ Unspeakable, Harry had decided on an expanded trunk, not huge, just bigger than expected, a ten foot square cube, seemingly filled with shelves.

Into this, he’d taken a few sticks and a couple of soda cans. Wandless transfiguration was an exhausting exercise, even after lifting Dumbledore’s bindings. First, he’d transfigured the sticks into a timber doorframe, but for some unknown reason, every time he went to add the wizard-space runes to the frame, it reverted back to the small sticks he used as a base. Transfiguring the cans was a much more successful venture, so he ended up with aluminium doorframes.

The only doorframe in the actual trunk, was very quickly placed under a modified _Fidelius_ charm. Doing that wandlessly had completely knocked him on his ass and he’d spent three days with barely the energy to get out of bed. Thankfully, Petunia assumed that he had the same flu as Dudley and other than putting soup and sandwiches up for him, he’d been left alone. Once the first wizard-space room was complete and under _Fidelius_ , Harry was able to use his wand and free of the Ministry's interference and tracking, was able work at a more reasonable pace.

That first doorframe opened into another, not-quite-so-small, room. This one was twelve by seventeen feet, with three doors on each of the longer sides and two on the shorter sides, each three-foot-wide door was separated from it’s neighbours or a corner, by two feet. And again each doorframe was permanently transfigured from a soda-can-base. It took the time-travelled Head Auror only minutes to realise that each doorframe needed to have, not just the runic spell-formula etched into it, but also the transfiguration locking runes as part of the runic array. Without this, there was always the chance that over time, the transfiguration may break down, as wandless work tended to not be as stable as good wand-work, and that made the first frame vulnerable. Better to over compensate, than take the chance of it collapsing with him in it.

Now, he had plenty of space, nine rooms to work and play in. A bathroom, a kitchen, a bedroom, an office-cum-library, a storage room, a room for charms/transfiguration and three blank spaces. Eventually he planned to turn one into a potions lab and for now it held his little collection of school supplies. One, he figured to use for Animagi and metamorphmagi studies, but was currently empty. And the last was, as yet, an unallocated space, but he was sure that by the time he (re)finished Hogwarts, he’d have a use for it.

Having wizard-space that was under Fidelius was a godsend to Harry, it enabled him to permanently transfigure collections of seemingly unrelated rubbish into whatever he needed. A soda can, some sticks and a handkerchief made a super comfortable chair or bed and mattress. Some more sticks quickly became shelves for his library or cupboards in his kitchen. A ceramic cup and saucer were quickly transfigured into a bathroom suite. Rags became sheets or blankets.

Yes, getting that first wizard-space room made and under Fidelius was exhausting and took more than a week, but it was worth every second of it. He might get some raised eyebrows at a having an expanded trunk, but thanks to the Fidelius, no one was going to know about the extra space, unless he told them.

The next day was the 1st and he had to admit, he was nervous about it. Fooling petunia and Vernon into thinking he was eleven was one thing, fooling someone like Dumbledore? He wasn’t really sure he was going to succeed.

Oh, don’t get him wrong, he was going to do his best. He figured that he only needed to get through two years of Hogwarts. He just had to wait until Malfoy snr, slipped Ginny the diary-Horcruxe, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get the others out of the way, first. He knew how to kill a basilisk properly, thanks to Bill Weasley, so the Chamber of Secrets was going to be a goldmine. Yes, he could use the ritual to summon the piece of soul within each horcruxe but the problem there was that it required seven people and he was only one.

On his last trip to Diagon Alley, he’d dropped into Gringotts and inquired about opening some secondary vaults that were untouchable by Dumbledore and the goblins were happy to acquiesce, especially once he mentioned that he wasn’t comfortable with Dumbledore’s input in his life. Now, he had another couple of keys and a pouch that linked to a new vault and a tiny little portfolio book, that detailed the contents of the vault and their value. That was going to come in handy, as he emptied the Room of Requirement. The only downside was that while the goblins had transfered the contents of all the Potter vaults, Harry could still only access his trust vault, but the big upside was that Dumbledore couldn't access them either. His Potter legacy was safe and hopefully the goblins would be able to recover most of what Dumbledore had removed from the trust vault by using Harry's key. A million ʛalleons was a lot of money in anyone's language and Dumbledore had no right to it.

And the goblins hated thieves.

Everything he owned was now in his trunk, the only things not already packed were the clothes he planned on wearing the next day hanging from his wardrobe door, a pair of shoes and a satchel sitting under those clothes, pyjamas that were neatly folded on his pillow, his wand, holster and the clothes he was currently wearing. Petunia had said that after he showered, he could use the washing machine to rinse them and take the clothes-horse into his room, to dry them overnight. He figured that if they weren’t dry by morning, he could always take them into his trunk and use a drying charm.

 

Breakfast was a stilted affair. Neither Dursley's nor Harry were comfortable in the other’s company, but that wasn’t a new development, so they all ignored the silence.

“Boy?” Vernon still struggled to call Harry anything but ‘boy’.

“Yes, Uncle Vernon.” Harry’s voice might have been polite and attentive, but inside he was sighing.

“I… There’s going to be some changes, this year.” Changes, changes, what the hell **_else_**  was going to change?

“Yes, Uncle Vernon.”

“I’ve been offered a transfer.”

“You’re very good at your job, Uncle Vernon.” Harry said dutifully.

“I am, boy. This transfer… it’s not… local.” Vernon hesitated.

“How not local?” Harry tilted his head, this was new, he didn’t remember anything about a transfer.

“Colorado. America.”

“Oh…” Harry huffed in surprise.

“Yes, so you see the issue. Pet and I believe that the old… man… the one that left you with us… that he’ll try and stop it.”

“If he knew about it, certainly. But, Uncle…? Do you want the transfer?”

“Yes, I do. It’s a bigger site, more responsibility and better pay.”

“When do you need to make a decision by? When would you leave?”

Vernon sighed. “We’ve put it off as long as we could, I have to tell the Director, today. And I’d be expected to start on the 30th of September.”

“If you want it, take it. I can work around it.” Harry nodded.

“What do you mean, boy? How?”

“With me at school, the Headmaster’s spy won’t have a reason to be watching you. If you were to get everything signed and actually be in America, before ‘notifying me’, the Headmaster couldn’t do much about it. He’d probably throw a little tantrum about the blood wards, but if you told him that keeping me with you would mean that I’d have to change schools…? Well, Ilvermorny is in in Colorado, but there’s no way he going to loose me to them.” Harry mused out loud.

“Wards? What wards? Why weren't we told about any _**wards?”**_ Vernon blustered.

“The gob- their bankers do more than just banking, they’re specialists in wards and protections. The Headmaster ordered blood based wards on this house to sustain the protections that Mum created when she died. I don’t understand the exact details, but while her blood lives here, this house is invisible to the wiz- to them.”

“Huh…” Vernon snorted.

“Yeah…” Harry sighed.

“If Vernon takes the transfer, where will you go?” Petunia asked.

Harry stared at the ceiling in thought, the expressions crossing his face, being the only reason that Vernon didn’t demand he answer his Aunt.

“There’s a man… He’s one of **_them_** , but he was raised in the normal world, too. A friend of Mum and Dad’s. I can ask him to be my guardian.” 

“How do you know about him?” Petunia asked, putting down her knife to focus on Harry.

“The bankers were holding things for me, things that the Headmaster can’t touch.” No one without Potter blood, could touch the box James and Lily Potter had left for Harry. “There were letters and photos in it.” Along with Harry’s birth certificate… and wasn’t that a kick in the teeth? He’d lived his entire life, not knowing his actual birth name. He wasn’t Harry James Potter, after all, no he was Hieronymus James Sirius Evan Potter. No wonder Sirius had pinged him as a ‘Harry’. That could also have got him out of the tri-wizard instantly, if he’d known, which is probably why Dumbledore made sure he was never told, if the old Meddler even knew.

“And one of them, was about this man?” Vernon asked.

“Yes. His name is Remus Lupin and he’s one of the few people that have identities in the normal world. He’s also one of the Headmaster’s… favourites? No, not favourite, not prodigies… I’m not sure how to describe them.” He grimaced. “Mum said they were the ones that the Headmaster chose to be his personal mini-army.”

“So, why choose him, if he’s the Headmaster’s man?” Vernon asked with a slightly confused frown.

“Because I can invoke an oath he made to my Father. The Headmaster will think he’s in control of my guardian, but with the promise that Remus made to Dad? No, the Headmaster can think what he wants, but it won’t work that way.”

“And how do we contact him?” Petunia wanted to know. “Does he have a phone? Or an address in the normal world?”

“I doubt it, but I can check. If not… I can send my owl with a letter.” Harry shrugged.

“Send the bird, when you get to... the school.” Vernon grunted. “We've had the papers drawn up, both guardianship and adoption papers.You can take them with you, all he has to do is sign and submit them. We've put our letters of request and the other documents the solicitor told us would help, in with them.”

“Do you think the Headmaster will object?” Petunia fretted a little.

“Initially, yes, he most definitely will, but given the choice of me leaving the country and his control or Remus Lupin having guardianship? I think he’s more likely to assume that he can control me through Remus.”

 

Vernon dropped Harry off at King’s Cross station earlier than needed, but Harry wanted to lock-up his occlumency shields as the coming day was going to be an emotional roller coaster. He knew that Dumbledore would have someone watching and Harry wasn’t supposed to know how to access platform 9¾, so he patiently waited for the Weasley horde to arrive. He settled into a compartment with Ron and did the ‘you’re Harry Potter? Do you really have the scar?’, conversation a second time. Yes, it was earlier than Harry remembered, but maybe that was just because he’d hung around, instead of wandering off on his own?

Then things changed again.

An owl fluttered at the compartment window and after sharing a confused look with Harry, Ron opened the window, the bird flew through the window and landed on the seat beside Ron, holding out a leg. Ron glanced at Harry, shrugged and removed the letter, after opening it, he handed it to Harry.

“It’s for you, mate.”

Harry took the letter and quickly read.

_Dear Harry._

_I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was a close friend of both your Mother and Father and I would dearly like to…_

Harry recognised Remus’ writing and didn’t bother reading any further, he just pulled a small notepad from a pocket and scribbled a note. He pause halfway and looked at Ron, nodded and kept writing. He tied the letter to the owl’s leg. “Can you take that back to him, please?” The owl hooted and flew away.

“Mate?”

“Sorry, just something I wasn’t expecting.” Harry said as train pulled away from the station.

The conversation went on, talking about nothing in particular, until the trolley lady came passed. Instead of buying the lot, like he did last time, he got a chocolate frog, a couple of packets of Ron’s favourite sour strawberry and banana strips and his own personal favourites, sugar quills in orange and lime.

Ron watched him carefully for a few seconds, before he sighed and sat back in relief. “Well, good thing I’m not alone then. I’d stuff this right up, Mr Head Auror, sir.” Ron flicked off the sloppy salute that he had been renowned for, before leaving the Auror corps to work with George.

Harry snapped his head up from studying Dumbledore’s chocolate frog card, to look at Ron. “Yeah, good thing, Mr Marketing Manager.” The two gave each other silly grins. “I honestly thought it was just me, you know? I’ve got a dragon-load of plans, Knight, I’m not letting it happen, again.” Harry warned.

“I got your back, Hellion.” Ron nodded. “Tell me la-”

The compartment door opened and young girl stood there, her bushy hair was wild and loose.

“Har- H-has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost his, again.” She stammered, but Harry saw something that made him look twice.

He glanced at Ron and tapped his fingers against his neck and watched as Ron’s eye flew from Harry to the girl and back, eyes focusing on her red and gold striped tie, before the redhead nodded and flicked his wand as he chanted.

“ _Accio_  Trevor, the toad.”

The girl’s eyes widened as a toad flew into the compartment and was plucked from the air with the ease of a seasoned seeker’s skill.

“Here you are, Minster.” Harry handed Hermione Granger the toad.

“Bloody Potters.” She groaned.

“Bloody Gryffindors, you mean.” Standing behind her was none other than Draco Malfoy.

“Master Healer,” Ron nodded formally to the blonde, who nodded back, just as formally.

"Manager Weasley." Draco said calmly.

"What gave me away?" Hermione asked.

"Your tie." Harry grinned.

"My tie?" Hermione looked down at the red and gold stripes. "What's wrong with it? It looks right."

"Hermione, you haven't been sorted yet, it should be black with a Hogwarts' crest, not Gryffindor colours. Check out Draco's." Harry explained, patiently.

Hermione looked at Draco and focused on his tie, before looking back to her own.

"Oh, bugger." She sighed, lifting her wand and tapping it on the tie, the stripes faded and the Hogwarts' crest took their place. "Better?"

"Much. We don't want to draw the Headmaster's attention, if we can avoid it." Harry said and the other three nodded. “So, shall we do this?”

“Lets.” The other three agreed.

“What are the chances that anyone else has joined us?” Ron suddenly asked. “Fred and George have been acting odd, even for them, for the last few weeks. I didn’t think anything of it, but now… knowing it’s not just me…?”

Harry nodded. “It’s worth investigating. Hermione, give Neville, his toad. Check him and the other first years, ask if any know about the DA. If anyone reacts, bring them along, we can always obliviate them if we’re wrong. Draco, come and sit. Ron, check the twins.” Harry slipped back into his Head Auror role, so easily.

Two minutes later twins arrive. “Heya Harrikins.” The two third year boys grinned, as they slipped into the compartment behind their younger brother.

“Gred, Forge. You with us?” Harry narrowed his eyes as he studied them.

“Forever, littlest brother.” George nodded.

“…don’t fancy dying again.” Fred added his own nod.

Bare seconds later, Hermione returns with Neville, Dean, Seamus and Luna in tow.

“Hermione?” Harry asked.

But Hermione wasn’t the one to reply. One by one, the newcomers all asked a question.

“Can we avoid the big battle, this time?” Neville asked as he sat beside Ron.

“Can I still use my ‘particular proclivity for pyrotechnics’?” Seamus flopped himself down, beside Neville and leant against the corridor wall.

“Can I avoid going on the run this time?” Dean pulled the blinds down and sat on his boyfriend’s lap.

“Can we have the DA again?” Luna grinned and sat on Ron’s lap, making the redhead flush almost as red as his hair.

Luna?

“Luna? How are you here, you’re younger than us?” Harry demanded

“Potions accident. Somehow… **_someone_**  mixed a de-aging potion with a reversing potion and slipped it into my drink.” She smiled innocently. “The result is, due to the nature of the two potions and their lack of compatibility… permanent. So, St Mungo's ordered a change to my birth certificate and Daddy wrote to the Headmaster and here I am.”

Harry just looks at her. “Oh boy.” He sighed.

“Anyone else?” Hermione asked.

“Don’t think so. But we’ll find out.” Ron answered.

“Yes, Moony.” Harry spoke at the same time as Ron.

“What?” Blank looks came from Dean and Seamus, while Fred and George just gaped at him.

“Moony?” Hermione gasped. “Are you sure?”

“Yep.” Harry handed over the letter that had been delivered just before the train left.

“I see. And your reply?”

“Told him to meet me at midnight at the shack.” Harry answered.

“Good, we need to where he stands. Anyone spoken about this to anyone?” The girl asked.

“Yes, I did.” Draco said. “I told Severus. showed him all my memories. He dragged me in to Father, made me show him too. Father will do whatever we ask. He’s with us. So is Sev. He’s going to get Dumbledore to give him guardianship of you, make Dumbledore think it’s his idea, I mean.”

“How’s he going to do that?” Neville frowned.

“No idea, he wouldn’t say. Just said he’d do it. Are we going to tell him about the rest of you?” The blonde boy asked.

“Yeah, we’d better.” Harry said. “I don’t know if I can handle Snape’s attitude, without retaliating. But if I know it’s an act? That will make it a bit easier… I hope.”

“Right first up. Houses. Who’s going where? Same as last time, all together, or spread out? Do we take over the school?” Dean wanted to know.

“All together.” Hermione and Draco said together.

“Slytherin?” Harry asks.

“Gryffindor.” Hermione countered and Draco nodded.

Draco Malfoy agreeing with a muggleborn? Draco suggesting anything other than Slytherin? No one outside of their compartment would ever believe it. Hermione shrugged and turned to Draco, raising an eyebrow in a ‘do you want to explain or should I?’ expression. 

“What? A Slytherin Harry Potter? No, not good. Too many people will be watching him. Gryffindor is the only place he’s going to get any leniency, and with us as his dorm-mates, he'll be sheilded a little.” Draco reasoned.

“And McGonagall is the slackest head of house, she never checks up on us. Add that to the Headmaster’s favouritism? Gryffindor really is the only option.” Hermione added.

“Dumbledore won’t know what’s hit him.” Neville made no attempt to smother his laughter.

“Neither will old Snake-face.” Ron smirked, the expression looking decidedly out of place.


	2. Chapter 2

_“Dumbledore won’t know what’s hit him.” Neville made no attempt to smother his laughter._

_“Neither will old Snake-face.” Ron smirked, the expression looking decidedly out of place._

 

The group of time travellers, bar the twins who were already at the Gryffindor table, followed McGonagall into the Great Hall, all clenching their hands into fists. Even years after the battle, entering the Hall was an emotional thing, the sight of so many bodies, bodies of their families and friends, still lingered in their memories. The group did as they always did and stayed with their leader, their formation missed by any who didn’t know them.

Harry, as ever, walked point, with Ron and Hermione to his left, while Dean and Seamus walked opposite them. To Harry’s rear were his two most experienced fighters, Neville and Draco. Due to their not-recommended upbringings, both were extremely sensitive to magic being pointed in their direction, which perfectly balanced Harry’s seemingly mystical way of knowing when a physical attack was coming.

“… Abbott, Hannah.” The voice of McGonagall broke through their surveillance of the Hall. A small blonde girl responded by trotting up and sitting on the stool, waiting politely for McGonagall to place the Hat upon her head.

Bare seconds passed before the Hat called out, “Hufflepuff!” and the girl smiled and after handing the Hat back to McGonagall, darted over the appropriate table.

“Bones, Susan.” Was called and after her it was Boot, then Brocklehurst and… and… and the list went on. Until…

“Finnigan, Seamus.” The first of the time travellers was called.

Seamus took a deep breath and left the safety of the group, trusting them to protect him from any wands pointed in his direction. The Hat was placed on his head and in just a matter of a few seconds, it opened the fold that acted as a mouth… and closed it again.

Finally it spoke. “Gryffindor.” It said, a thoughtful tone to it’s ‘voice’. Seamus stood and crossed to the red and gold draped table and sat opposite the twins.

“Goldstein, Anthony,” was sent to “Ravenclaw,” while “Goyle, Gregory,” went to “Slytherin.” Then it was the next of the travellers.

“Hermione Granger.” And like Seamus the Hat was silent. The silence stretched, second after second. Minutes passed and students and staff became restless, Hatstalls were a rarity and to have a muggleborn Hatstall? The last muggleborn to Hatstall had been Lily Evans and that had been twenty years ago. Some of the staff were remembering the redhead, her beauty, her strength, her mind, her kindness, but one member of staff was frowning, _**he**_ remembered the girl’s viciousness when taunted.

“Gryffindor!” The Hat called and while there were sighs of relief from many, that one staff member’s frown deepened, he’d have to keep an eye on the new Gryffindor and her friends, especially if they were anything like her.

“Longbottom, Neville.” Neville’s shoulders tightened the closer he got to the stool and when the Hat called **_“Gryffindor!”,_** before being on his head for more than a single second, Neville leapt to his feet and headed for the table, only to have to halt and return to McGonagall to give her back the Hat. Something to lighten the mood and only the travellers knew that it had been a deliberate action.

“Lovegood, Luna.” McGonagall read the name and paused, she re-read the name to herself, but it didn’t change.

Luna did her usual skip and bounce as she approached the Hat, this was were the changes were going to start and would alert any other travellers they hadn’t already located, that they weren’t alone. She dropped down onto the seat and McGonagall placed the Hat on her head and silence fell… again… more seconds passed and finally the Hat spoke.

“Gryffindor.” It’s tone was that of an unhappy child, their favourite toy taken away from them.

Two more students were called and placed in houses, each table cheering  their new members.

“Draco Malfoy.”

Harry dipped a tiny nod at Draco and got the same back, in reply. The Hat was gently placed on the blonde’s head, it’s ‘mouth’ opening… and closing… again. They watched as the Hat twisted, bunched and folded for a few seconds, before it called out.

“Gryffindor!” The Hall went silent.

Up at the staff table, eyebrows were raised. A Malfoy in Gryffindor? Malfoy’s were the Princes of Slytherin, how did one get sorted into Gryffindor? And the fact that the Malfoy in question, went and immediately sat beside a girl who was obvioulsy a muggleborn? Dumbledore did his usual twinkling, confident that another young life had been saved from the Dark. Snape was recalling the horrific memories he’d watched and wondering if Draco was the only one to return or if he might have collaborators.

Another half dozen, or so, were sorted, with only Pavarti Patil joining the Gryffindor table, she sat between Fay Dunbar and Lavender Brown, across from Kellah Lindstrom.

“Harry Potter.” McGonagall called and the whispers began. _‘Potter, did she say?’_ and ‘ _The Harry Potter?’._ Questions were asked at all the tables, but Harry ignored them, stepping away from Dean and Ron and walking calmly up to the Hat.

 _‘ **Another**  one?’_ The Hat whined. _‘How many of you are there?’_

 _‘Time travellers like me? After me? As far as I'm aware, just two.’_  Harry laughed. _‘But there’s still about a dozen firsties to be sorted, all up.’_

_‘I don’t suppose you’re going to drop your shields and let me sort you properly, are you?’_

_‘Not an ice-cube’s chance in hell.’_  Harry responded, his mind an icy cold place.

 _‘At least tell me that I’ve been putting you all in the right house?’_ The Hat whined.

 _‘For the most part… yeah, sure.’_  The cold went away.

_‘For the most part…?’_

_‘For the most part.’_  Harry gave a mental ‘shrug’.

 _‘Who didn’t go where they were supposed to? Or are they the two still to come?’_ The Hat asked hopefully.

_‘Nope. They’ve been placed, one was a Ravenclaw and the other a Slytherin.’_

_‘I put a snake in the lion’s den?’_  The Hat squawked.

 _‘You did.’_  Harry replied, brightly. _‘But if it’s any consolation… He makes a very convincing lion when he needs to.’_

_‘But…’_

Harry sighed. _‘I’ll show you what happened to Hogwarts and what we plan to avoid.’_ He focused on a single memory, that of flying around the ruins of Hogwarts, just hours after the Battle ended. The broken towers and crumbled walls, were smouldering from where the castle was doing it’s best to burn out the dark curses and hexes cast within her. This was the only thing that he allowed through his mental shields, the only thing the Hat could see and it was _**all**_ the Hat could see, Harry forcing the Hat to watch the memory, refusing to let it pull back before he was ready.

 _‘… oh… That’s…’_  The Hat’s mental ‘voice’ was devastated.

 _‘Yes… That’s what Hogwarts will look like if we do things Dumbledore’s way.’_  Harry answered.

 _ **“GRYFFINDOR!”**_  The almost screamed.

 _‘I thought you’d get it.’_  Harry sighed in sadness and stood, letting McGonagall take lift the Hat from his head.

The rest of the sorting went the way it have last time, Dean and Ron joining the other lions, slotting into their seats with military-like precision. The group waited patiently for the Headmaster to complete his notices and sit back down.

Then… before the students had restarted their conversations, the entire Hall heard a single voice.

“Nitwit? Blubber? Oddment? Tweak? Is he going senile? I thought Headmasters and Professors were supposed to be respectable?”

The shock for the travellers was that it wasn’t one of them, that spoke. It came from the Hufflepuff table and was answered by a few chuckles. At least, until they realised that the speaker was genuinely asking. Then there were a number of huddled conversations, while up at the staff table, Dumbledore was looking decidedly put out, his attempt at humour was being seen as a question of his mental stability.

But Dumbledore never noticed that not once, did the supposed Saviour of the Light look at him, had not even glanced in his direction. Not once.

 

After dinner was done and the firsties were herded off to their new houses and shown the common room, the girls were split from the boys and taken to their dorms. Unlike the boys’ dorm where all six of them were thrown into a single large room together, the girls were given a modicum of privacy, they would share small rooms, two girls to a room. Hermione and Luna both ignored the tantrums thrown by Lavender and Pavarti and tapped their wands on a single door, to a room that they knew shared a wall with the secret passage that went from the top of Gryffindor tower to the first floor and all points in between.

Just a few minutes after entering their room, there was a gentle knock on their door.

“Is one of you Luna Lovegood? Professor McGonagall would like to speak to you.” The older, probably fifth year girl said, after they’d both nodded.

“Thank you, need to go to the loo, first.” Hermione answered for them both.

“Can you tell her, please?” Luna added.

“Uh… sure…” The older girl replied.

“Thank you.” Both younger girls gave her a smile.

 

While at the same time… up in the boys’ room, Oliver Wood had stuck his head in the door.

“Oi, Malfoy? McGonagall wants to speak to you. Didja see where her office was?” The Scottish boy’s accent was clear, but not too over-powering.

“It’s right, Ollie…”

“…we need to speak…”

“…to McGonagall.”

“We’ll take him.” Fred and George said between them.

“Why? You’re not thinking about quitting the team are you? I need my beaters.” Oliver fretted.

“Nah, mate.”

“Just need to ask …”

“… a few questions.”

“Think we’re going to…”

“…have an issue with our books.” The twins answered.

“An issue?” Oliver frowned.

“Well… yeah. We’ve got Bill and …”

“…Charlie’s old books, but we’re not sure …”

“…they’re the best, they were second-hand…”

“…even back then. We just need to know…”

“….if they’re alright to use.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll leave you with it.” Oliver didn’t really care about books, quidditch on the other hand…?

 

In the little, portrait free, hallway that lead from the common room to McGonagall’s office, the group of time travellers stood together, all waiting for the Professor to return from meeting with the senior prefects.

“Oh…” McGonagall sighed. “I’ve only time to speak to Miss Lovegood and Mr Malfoy this evening, I’ll speak with the rest of you before breakfast. Head up to your dorms.” She directed.

“No, ma'am.” Luna said. “There’s a reason a Malfoy has been sorted into Gryffindor and the rest of us are all involved.”

“Ex- _cuse **me?!”**_  McGonagall gasped.

“Certainly, Professor.” Luna gave her a sweet smile and preceded her into the office.

“Miss Lovegood-”

 **“Is seems… despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster… And I’m afraid,  it’s quite extensive.”** Harry said in a strong voice. That was what he’d said when he’d entered the Great Hall just minutes before Voldemort’s arrival at Hogwarts.

McGonagall stumbled around her desk and slumped in her seat, her hand at her chest. “Oh, heavens…” Was all she was able to whisper.

“The fact that you knew Luna and Draco shouldn’t have been sorted into Gryffindor… that says a lot, Professor.” Harry’s presence was that of the wizard who ran the Auror corps for a decade, a man who taught Ethics at Hogwarts for most of that time. A man, you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of. “The question now is…? What do you plan to do about it?”

“While you think about that, Professor? Were we too late to swap subjects?” Fred asked.

“We wanted to move over to Runes and Arithmancy and to also add Herbology. We did send a letter, but we didn’t hear back from you.” George said.

“We weren’t able to buy new textbooks, but we did bring Bill’s old ones with us.” Fred continued.

“If they’re alright we’ll use them, otherwise we’ll have to send an owl order in.” George concluded.

McGonagall focused on Harry. “All of you?”

“Yes, ma'am.” Harry nodded. “Plus… at least… Moony. I’m to meet him at the shack at midnight. And… I’ve got a really bad feeling that Padfoot might be with us, too.” Harry grimaced.

“And I told Sev and Father. They watched the worst of my memories and have decided that they’ll stand with us.” Draco added.

McGonagall huffed and hummed for nearly five minutes, looking from one person to another, while Harry waited patiently for her to speak.

“I will be attending that meeting with you, Potter.” She finally said.

“We all will be, Professor.” Hermione corrected, causing McGonagall to blink a few times.

“In that case…? Mr’s Weasley, I suggest sleeping charms on your dorm-mates.” She said to the twins.

“Yes, Professor.” They answered seriously.

“And yes, I did get your letter, I’ve put the pair of you down for Arithmancy, Charms, DADA, Herbology, Potions, Study of Ancient Runes and Transfiguration. William’s books should be fine, but if you have any issues, please speak to me. In the mean time, I’ve had a quiet word with Professors Vector and Babbling and warned them that your books may be an issue.” She turned from the twins and back to Harry and Ron. “What do you plan to do about Mr Black? You know Fudge won’t listen to reason. How do you plan to get around that?”

“Well, I thought about that… and you’re not going to like it.”

“Try me.”

“I’m going to bust him out, but…” Harry held up a hand. “I figure that an empty cell is a bad thing, right? So… I thought I’d put Wormtail in his place, put up an anti-Animagi wards and then I have two options… I can either just leave the rat there, as himself, or I can transfigure him to look like Sirius and lock it with a parseltongue charm. But the later is my prefered option.”

“You wouldn’t go through the Wizengamot?” McGonagall asked.

“No, not a chance. Dumbledore won’t _**ever**_ let Sirius’ name be cleared, not while they're both alive.”

“Why not?”

“Sirius is my godfather and there’s no way Dumbledore wants to take the chance, that Sirius might try and claim custody of me. If he did that, he’d loose control of me and access to my vaults. Not that that’s going to do him much good. I’ve had a word with the goblins and while I don’t have access to my family vaults and nor can I withdraw anything from them, the goblins were quite happy to make some transfers for me. _**On**_ the condition... that the new vaults had the same limitations as the current ones.”

“Which means?” McGonagall leant forward.

“Which means that the roughly million-odd ʛalleons Dumbledore’s stolen from me, are going to be returned to the main Potter Family Vault, under it's new vault number, and that as I now have my key, he won’t be getting any more.”

“And what happens when he asks for that key to be returned to him?” Draco asked. “As your guardian, he has the right to hold it.”

“Ah, but see that’s the thing… He’s not my rightful guardian, he knows it and so do the goblins. Sirius is. Dumbledore could access my trust vault, but only because he had the key, which I now have, secure in my trunk.”

“What if he sends a house-elf to fetch it?” Ron asked.

“Still won’t do him any good. There’s a space inside my trunk that’s under a modified Fidelius and unless I personally place your hand on the access to that space, _**willingly**_ , with intent for you to know, not even me telling you what it is and where it is will allow you to see it. Or access it.”

“How the haell didja doo tha’?” McGonagall’s brogue lengthened.

“I’ll tell you, later. About half past midnight.” Harry grinned.

“Harry Potter. What did you do?” Luna gasped. “Tell me you **_didn’t?”_**

“I didn’t.” Harry answered dutifully.

“You **_did?”_** Luna’s eyebrows rose sharply in shock.

“Eh, I did.” Harry shrugged and nodded in the same movement, a ‘so what’ expression on his face.

“That’s **_incredibly_**  difficult.” The blonde girl’s jaw dropped, just slightly.

“Knocked me about pretty bad and for the better part of three days, I didn’t have the energy to even get out of bed.” Harry shrugged. “But so worth it. So worth it.”

“I’ll bet them ruddy muggles didn’t like that.” Ron muttered.

“We’re going to have to deal with them, Harry.” Hermione added.

“Already taken care of.”

“What did you do?” Hermione frowned.

“Me? Nothing. Vernon got a transfer… to America.” Hermione gasped at Harry reply. “We talked it over and I’ve got the papers in my trunk. Guardianship and adoption. My plan was to have Moony become my guardian in the muggle word and Draco says that Snape is going to have Dumbledore make him my magical guardian. I think that having Moony as muggle guardian, will help that along.” Harry huffed. “I mean Dumbledore’s going to think that with Moony as guardian, he’ll still be in control, but there’s the possibility that Moony may be more loyal to me than to him, so adding Snape as magical guardian? The animosity between the two? The vows that Snape took to protect me? And Dumbledore thinking that Snape is completely his? Dumbledore’s going to be fairly certain, that will put him as the peacekeeper between the two and the one to make decisions. And then when Dumbledore is least expecting it, have Moony submit the request, in the muggle world, to adopt me.”

“I see…” McGonagall dragged the two words out.

“Yesss…” Draco hissed. “I could see that working. But only if it was left until too late to do anything else.”

“It will be. Vernon was telling his bosses today, that he’d take the job and he and Petunia would be flying out some time this week, to sort out housing and do all the legal stuff. But they won’t be ‘notifying’ me, until after the 1st of October and Vernon will have already started his new job, on the 30th of this month.”

McGonagall looked at Harry “How did you avoid Slytherin?” She asked, seriously.

“Occlumency. Extremely good occlumency shields. Ledger and Rapier spoke to Rapier’s Uncle Aglie, who as you know is an Unspeakable, after extensive negotiations, he agreed to teach us.” Harry answered, just as seriously.

“Which reminds me…” Neville spoke up. “I have a dozen platinum time turners in a security pouch, do you want to use them to get Padfoot out?”

Everyone turned to look at him.

“What?” He whined. “If we use time turners, we could polyjuice Wormtail into Padfoot and Harry can lock it with a parseltongue charm and then use some of those really questionable rituals that the Unspeakables used for the Copying Adoptions, to alter Padfoot’s age and parentage and have him here with us.” Then he tilted his head. “But we’d have to have something that would be the reason for him to have not been on the express or being sorted with us.”

“Oh, my…” McGonagall gasped.

“What?” Harry and Hermione spoke as one.

“Archer Evermond. He’s supposed to be in your year, a muggleborn orphan, but I didn’t remember him. I just assumed that was because he died, as he’s in St Mungo's. He was involved in a muggle building collapse a few days ago, his injuries are not responding and it's doubtful he'll live.”

“Can you get his details?” Hermione asked.

“Can we swap him for Padfoot?” George asked.

“What’s the bet he **_is_** Padfoot?” Ron asked.

“Unlikely.” McGonagall replied. “He’s been there for almost a week, now. No time turner can take us back that far. Eight hours is the limit.”

“Twenty-four.” Harry and Neville both said and Neville continued. “Twenty-four hours, but they’re not available to anyone but the Unspeakables. And the same rules apply, you can’t change anything you already know to have happened. Otherwise Uncle Algie would have used one to save the Potters and Mum and Dad.”

“Oh, Neville.” McGonagall whispered.

“Nah, it’s right, we’ve got plans to deal with the Lestranges and when we do, the curses they used on Mum and Dad will be able to broken, Harry can do that, he knew what Bill was planning. Bill had to involve him as it dabbled in Family Magics and Harry was Seneschal to House Black. In the meantime, they’re fine.” Neville waved off the Professor’s sympathy.

“So plan of attack?” Fred asked.

“Stun Wormtail. Meet Moony at midnight, explain to him. Depending on time, fetch Padfoot, leave Wormtail in his place. Use time turners to go back twenty-four hours. Stop at St Mungo's, Draco will check Archer Evermond. If he’s as badly off as Aunt Minnie thinks, it might be a mercy to let him go. In that case, taking some of his blood and doing the _‘[Exemplum Vitae](copy%20life)’_ ritual and putting Padfoot in his place, should be relatively easy.”

“That will depend on his condition, Hellion. Professor? Do you know? Do you have access to his medical situation?” Draco let his experience talk for him.

“Yes, Mr Malfoy, I do. Just let me…” She dug around in a drawer for a few seconds. “Ah, here we are, a copy of his records, it automatically updates at midnight.” She passed it straight over to him, she remembered attending his Mastery presentation.

“Right, let’s see, now… hmm… twenty-eight bones vanished and regrown, six organs regrown, nerve stripping and regrowth, skin-regen applied, musclo-regen… ah here we are… toxicology… uh, potassium… ugh, high levels of myoglobin… ooh… thromboplastin neh… huh… brain activity is… oh, bugger. ” Draco muttered as he read, finally he laid the file down and looked up. “He’s not going to recover. There’s so much toxicity in his blood that it’s destroying any potions the healers give him, before they can even start to work. And add to that his brain functions are at twenty-three percent, that’s enough to keep him breathing and for his nerves to react, but not enough for a possibility of recovery.” Draco stated bluntly, a Master Healer giving his diagnosis. “His condition is still deteriorating and I expect that within forty-eight hours, he’ll be dead.” He sighed. “Swapping him for Padfoot? I can remove the toxins from his blood, relatively easily. Brewing the ‘ _[Exemplum Vitae](copy%20life)_ _’_  ritual’s potions is also no issue. The issue is that for this to be seen as authentic, Padfoot will have to agree and be infused with enough of the toxins to leave a residue in his system, not enough to be damaging, just a residue. To not have that residue will create too much variance between his last reported condition and his current condition.”

“Of course, Healer Malfoy.” Harry nodded. “We would not consider going ahead without Padfoot’s agreement and your expertise.”

“But his condition…? Would St Mungo's release him to Hogwarts?” McGonagall asked.

“No, not unless there’s a fully licenced healer to monitor him. If that were the case, then I think it’s possible. Mother is a fully licenced healer, she’s even a children’s specialist. I could ask her.” Draco offered.

“Assuming Padfoot agrees, how long does it take to brew the potions and will they last, if you brew them between collecting Padfoot and getting to St Mungo's?” Harry asked.

“They take forty-six minutes to brew and yes, they’ll last, but they only have a shelf life of three hours.”

“If I may?” Fred spoke up. “I have a question about this ritual? Padfoot’s an adult, will the ritual change that or does Padfoot have to take a de-aging potion as well?”

“Yes, the ritual Harry mentioned? _[Exemplum Vitae](copy%20life)_? If done correctly, it changes the recipient into a exact copy of the donor, blood, bone, magical signature, everything bar their age and medical condition. Not even St Mungo's or the goblins’ test will ever be able to differentiate between the two. It’s won’t deal with any foreign contaminates, like the toxins Draco mentioned, that’s something we’ll have to deliberately introduce into his system, but I’ll leave that in the hands of a Master Healer.” Hermione answered. “It also doesn’t change or copy their memories, as while still within the brain, memories are insubstantial. However, Padfoot’s home life was not all that dissimilar to being raised in an orphanage, so I doubt he’ll have any problems covering that subject. As for the rest, we can always get Mrs Malfoy to sign off on the accident having caused damage to his memories and leaving some of them fractured. Dumbledore’s not going to take too much notice, as Archer’s a muggleborn and for all his spruiking, Dumbledore doesn’t actually consider muggleborns valuable.”

“Okay and what will happen to the boy, the real one?” Fred asked his next question.

“He’ll die.” Draco said. “There’s nothing that can stop that, not at this point. And as a muggleborn orphan… there’s a good chance that St Mungo's won’t even bury him, more than likely they’ll just vanish his body or transfigure him into something else.”

“That’s…” Hermione gasped.

“Disgusting, is what it is.” Draco agreed. “That’s the main reason why I’m agreeing to this. We will see to it that he’s buried properly and he’ll always be remembered.”

The group sat silently for a few moments, their heads lowered in thought.

“Alright.” Harry took a deep breath. “Let’s do this. I suggest splitting into teams. Draco, Hermione and whoever get ready for the ritual, brew the potions, etcetera. While Professor McGonagall goes to St Mungo's, ostensibly to check on the boy, but to actually get his blood for the ritual and the potions. See if you can make a de-aging potion that will match Sirius' age to Archer, exactly. I'll go and meet Moony and once he’s informed, we’ll go fetch Padfoot and bring him up to date.”

“Potter, I would like to speak to Mr Lupin.” McGonagall disagreed.

“What about polyjuice?” Luna spoke up. “If you can get some… I portray be Professor McGonagall and go to St Mungo's.”

“Snape.” Ron snapped his fingers. “Draco said he told Snape. Let’s get him in on this.”

“One moment.” McGonagall held up a hand. She flicked her wand and her cat patronus emerged. “Message for Severus…” She waited until the patronus nodded. “Severus, would you be so kind as to join me, I’ve had a nice chat with Mr Malfoy and find myself in need of assistance.” She nodded and the cat ran off, straight through the nearest wall. “Very well, it shall likely take Severus a few minutes to get here, I suggest in the mean time that the senior Mr’s Weasley deal with their dorm-mates, while the rest of you give the impression of settling into your own dorms. I don’t have to ask if you are all capable of casting Auror-grade concealment charms. Use them, get changed into dark, but not black clothes and return in an hour. I’ll update Severus and have Pepper-Up potions waiting for us, as this is going to be a long night.”

 

An hour later and the group knocked quietly on McGonagall’s office door. The door opened and they saw Snape sitting behind McGonagall’s desk, in a seat beside hers.

“Come in and sit down.” McGonagall gestured them in and closed the door behind them.

“So…” Snape drawled. “You’re all of the same nature as Draco?” The question was almost an accusation.

“Nope.” Fred waved a hand. “Not me.”

“No? In what way do you differ, Mr Weasley?” Snape sneered.

“They all survived, Professor. I didn’t. I died up on the seventh floor.” Fred answered brightly.

Snape blinked, he’d not been expecting that. “Died?”

“Yep. Heart-stopper by Flint’s bitch of a mother.” If you didn't know Fred and George quite well, you'd miss the vicious glint in Fred's eyes as he spoke.

“I see…” Snape thought about that for a moment. “Professor McGonagall has given me an outline of what you plan to do tonight and while I cannot say that I am pleased, having seen the alternative, even if only as pensieve memories… I shall support you. Potter? Do you require assistance in retrieving the mutt from… there?”

“No, Professor Snape, but thank you for offering. It’s best if it’s just Remus Lupin and myself that deal with him, however Seamus and Dean will be joining us, at least as far as Azkaban Island, we’re going to need their expertise, to create a distraction.”

“Expertise?”

“Yes, Seamus is a demolitions master, he and Dean have been systematically working their way through the Death-Eater strongholds and reducing them to rubble. I don’t doubt that Seamus has a cache of explosives, hidden somewhere.”

“O’ course I do, ‘Arry. Got me a stash just offside Quigley’s Point.” Seamus grinned. “I might have had a bout of accidental magic on a couple of arms runners, that stole their stock from the IRA. If I accidentally, on purpose that is, obliviated them to the location of the stock, which I then moved? Well, I hadn’t yet received my letter so there’s no way it could be traced back to me, now can it?” 

Harry just laughed and shook his head.

“And how do you plan to deal with the dementors?” Snape asked, his curiosity roused.

Harry drew a small pouch from a pocket and after opening the pouch, thrust his arm into it’s depths, passed the elbow. When his hand re-emerged, he was clasping a number of flat discs of a bright silvery metal.

“These are dementor repulsors, almost like a targeted, in-built patronus, that only registers to dementors and a few other dark creatures. I could tie one on Dumbledore’s beard and he’d think it was just a hair decoration, and no matter what scans he did, that’s all it would ever show up as.” Harry explained.

“How do they work?” Snape wanted to know.

“They create a runic-based shield, primarily targeted towards magical creatures, or more precisely towards magical creatures that are created by way of a curse or dark magic. This includes dementors, lethifolds, boggarts, poltergeists and also when their curse or dark magic is active, vampires, werewolves, veelas, merfolk and to a degree dark-goblins.” Harry replied in a lecturing manner. “They are quite simple, really, just an intent-targeted shield. The rune structure is the anchor and only requires charging once every ninety-nine days. They’re ideal for the families of muggleborns, as they can be recharged by any Wizarding person, regardless of affiliation, all it requires is to have someone pulse their magic into the disc until it turns black, then it’s ready to wear. However… for one to work for a person, it must be blood-bonded with them and that’s the reason that only the Auror corps are aware of them.”

“Excuse me?” McGonagall asked.  “I worked for the DMLE before Hogwarts and I know nothing about this.” She was quite upset about it.

“And you wouldn’t have, Professor, for one very good reason… and that is… they weren’t around then. They were created by a very unexpectedly talented young wizard in the summer of 1980.”

“Not you, then.” Snape commented.

“No, not me. Personally... I suspect it’s the reason that Sirius was able to retain as much of his mental faculties as he did.”

“You think he tried to make one for himself? Mr Potter, I assure you that Sirius Black was not capable of such a thing.” Snape stated severely.

“Like I said… a very unexpectedly talented young wizard.”  Harry grinned.

“You think Black was responsible?” Snape’s brows rose.

“After the war, I inherited his personal vault, including his journals, but I did nothing about them until after I entered the corps, upon graduating from the academy, when Gawain Robards first told me that Sirius was the one to create the shields, I laughed at him. But it got me thinking, so I went to Gringotts and pulled out his journals and there it was. He had one journal that was just solely for spell creation… Gods… some of his ideas were brilliant, but yeah, most…? Just crazy. Probably about one in five or six would work, but even then... some just made sense and others were just too complicated for the result.” Harry shook his head.

“Unbelievable…” Snape whispered. “He had a brain.”

“And he used it. Did you know he studied seven subjects?” When Snape nodded, Harry went on. “And for those seven subjects, do you know what his NEWT results were?”

“No, but I doubt much higher than A’s.” Snape sneered.

“So… hearing that he got straight O’s?” Harry raised a brow in challenge.

“I don’t believe it… it’s impossible.” Snape stammered.

“Professor McGonagall? I’m sure that would have stood out in your memories?” Harry gave a very Malfoy-like smirk.

“Oh, it did and still does. I even sent a query about it, as I had never seen any indication of Black being so competent. Griselda Marchbanks told me that she was also suspicious too and demanded an immediate retest in conjunction with an identity quill. The results were… surprising. They were even better, Griselda claims that Black said, that without the rest of the students around, he could think more clearly. Yes, he got straight O’s and I still shake my head over that.”

Snape looked dumbfounded at the knowledge of his rival’s achievements, before he literally shook himself and refocused.

“Professor McGonagall says that you intend to swap Pettigrew for Black, then Black for Evermond.” It was not a question.

“We do, Severus.” Draco was the one to answer, this time. “Archer Evermond is dying, I estimate a matter of less than forty-eight hours. The injuries he’s received as a result of the building collapse are going to prove fatal. Well… not so much the injuries, but the toxins those injuries created. He was crushed and blood circulation to his extremities was inhibited, unfortunately for him, once he was removed from the building, he was treated by muggles. And that’s where the damage was done. Wizarding healers would have immediately plied him with anti-toxins and toxin reducers. Because that didn’t happen, the toxins have overridden his system and already his organs are already on the verge of shut down. Add to that his head injuries? The _**physical**_ damage has been repaired or regrown, but the synaptic connections are failing, leaving him with only twenty-three percent brain function.” Draco sighed and was echoed by Snape.

“Twenty-three percent is not enough to sustain him.” Snape warned.

“No and it’s slowly falling, as more parts of the brain shut down, his condition will deteriorate further and faster.” Draco answered in his blunt healer-to-healer manner.

“I see…” Snape drawled. “So, you will be splitting into different teams, I understand?”

“Yes. Draco and Hermione will see to the ritual and the potions it needs. I initially suggested that McGonagall visit St Mungo's and fetch the necessary blood from the boy, but she’s adamant that she be a part of the team that meets with Remus Lupin. That team will be myself, Seamus, Dean and, obviously McGonagall, all bar McGonagall will be the team that retrieves Padfoot and leaves Pettigrew in his place. Luna suggested that if we were able to access polyjuice, she would take McGonagall’s place and attend St Mungo's.”

“I thought that Miss Granger wanted all of you to meet with Lupin?” McGonagall frowned.

“I did and still do, but I concede that it’s not feasible, the space is simply not large enough and quite bluntly all of us missing is likely to cause issues. Luna and I will be fine, we’re in a room by ourselves. The twins, however, share a dorm with two other boys, boys that are unaware of our situation. Even witt sleeping charms, there's still the chnace that one of them may wake, it's best if the twins stay in the tower. They can possibly get away with being in the first years dorm or the common room, because of Ron, but not out of the tower, there's just no plausable excuse, not one their dorm-mates will believe, anyway.”

“And the younger Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom?” Snape asked.

“Will be working with the twins on a series of pranks that will be extremely embarrassing for a particular person.” Harry’s voice was hard and cold.

“Embarrassing? The Headmaster, I pressume?” Snape’s brows rose.

“Correct and yes, embarrassing. _**Extremely**_. Plus they’ll be monitoring personnel movements, around the castle.” Harry made a snap decision. “Legilimency, sir, I invite you to use it on me.”

Snape looked at him and after a pair of deep breaths, he nodded and that was all the warning that Harry got, before he attacked.

“ _Legilimens!"_  Snape spat the word as if it were a curse.

He entered a massive space, shelving everywhere and on each shelf a cube of timber. Each cube bore runes, but not in any sequence that Snape had ever seen before.

“If you don’t know the language, you’ll never decipher them, Professor, and it's a fictional language, so don't bother trying.” A voice came from further down the aisle. “This way to the viewing room.”

Snape said nothing just followed the man, as this was no child walking in front of him. This man still was clearly a Potter, but he was just as clearly Lily Evans’ son. Something that the boy in McGonagall’s office wasn’t. And as he passed through a large set of double doors, he wasn’t able to hold it back any longer.

“What happened to you? As a first year, you are the image of your Father, but here you stand and I see far more of your Mother in you.”

“Dumbledore. He had a number of bindings on me. Bindings that were broken in August, but I can’t just let my true appearance show, unless I want Dumbledore trying to reset them, I need to make it a gradual change. So slow that he won’t realise it, until it’s too late for him to take action, because by that point my true appearance will be commonly recognised.”

“Leaving him unable to alter it.” Snape nodded, then frowned. “Bindings?”

“Bindings. He didn’t want me to live up to my parents, he wanted me to always be playing catch-up and never quite making it.”

“Leaving you with a feeling in inadequacy.”

“Exactly. In addition to becoming an Auror, I trained with the Unspeakables, but I was never ‘officially’ signed to their department. It was _**they**_ that recognised the bindings, they were so subtle that not even Gringotts registered them.”

“How did he do that?” Snape wondered.

“Each one was minute, insignificant by itself. It wasn’t until they were all in place and activated that it became evident just how bad it was, but the truly despicable thing, was that Dumbledore used my own magic to lay them.”

“Thus, only your own magic could lift them.”

“Yes, all I had to do was an internal ‘finite’, but again, he’d laid conditions, it had to be done wandlessly and in a space with no doors.”

“I would guess… a garden?”

“Close. I think that was what he was planning, but I took it as a literal condition and took myself off to Diagon and apparated to the roof of the Cauldron. No doors up there, but still enough ambient magic floating around, that my little bursts of internal wandless magics were completely swallowed up.”

“Smart.” Snape said before he realised he was speaking about a Potter, then he frowned.

“I don’t give a damn about smart, Professor, all I care about is keeping my friends safe. Unfortunately the only way to do that is to stop the Snake-faced bastard and the old Meddler.”

“Agreed. How do you plan to do that?”

“In the long brew? We’re going to destroy Snake-face's Horcruxes.”

“And Dumbledore?”

“Didn’t you hear? There’s already someone calling him senile and it’s not one of us… as far as I’m aware.”

“One of you… How did you come to be here? The time travel I mean.”

“I made a mistake.”

“ _ **A**_ mistake? One that effects nearly a dozen people? I doubt that any _**single**_ mistake could make that happen. Not even a Potter can make that significant a mistake.” Snape sneered.

“I fired a blasting curse at the Veil of Death in the DoM.” Harry sighed.

Snape’s jaw fell. “You did **_what?”_**  He gasped.

“… fired a blasting curse at the Veil of Death…” Harry repeated.

It took almost a minute for Snape to be capable of speech. “Yes… I stand corrected. That may have been sufficient.”

“Unfortunately, only myself and Hermione were in the room, so I’ve no idea about the others.”

“Do you plan to research the reason?”

“Oh, definitely, but Snake-face and Dumbledore come first.” Harry’s expression was one that Snape was very familiar with, the Marauders called it Lily's 'going murdering' face, the fact that it wasn’t directed at him, was a relief.

“I’d like to be involved.” Snape paused, but drew on the small bit of courage that still bubbled in the depths of his core. “I don’t suppose that you’re aware of a way to remove a DarkMark?”

“I am, but it will completely incapacitate you for a few days.”

“Christmas holidays, then?”

“If you like, but I was going to suggest a potions accident sooner, before we dealt with Snake-face. Something that would look like an accident, that would lay you up in the hospital wing for a few days.”

“Explain.” Snape forced himself to say the next word. “Please.”

“A potions accident, something that is all flash and bang. But with a numbing agent, too, something that will knock you out for an hour or so, that gives the appearance of uncontrollable tremors. Draco, myself and a few others will come to your aid, Draco will hold you head, I will take your left arm while others will hold your right arm and your legs, perhaps even holding your body down. The reasoning behind this is that the removal is painful, Draco asked me to remove his and stated that it was worse than snake-face’s cruciatus. But DarkMark doesn’t disappear instantly, the _**connection**_ does, but the actual **_physical_**  mark begins to seep from the pores of the skin as an ink-like substance. That takes hours, depending on how long you’ve had it, in your case? Correct me if I’m wrong, but you joined him in ’79?”

“Correct. Winter solstice, 1979.”

“And we’re in ’91, now. Twelve years will take about… hang on a minute, let me work that out. Twelve years at three-sixty-five, plus three for the leap years is… four-thousand-three-hundred-eighty-three days… but we have to remove some of that… you said winter solstice… and unless you want to wait… the would bring it back to roughly… four-two-seven-two… for today… dividing that by the number of days between the solstices… brings it down to… Huh. Roughly forty-seven hours. Draco was almost twice that… maybe because he took the Mark before he was seventeen.” Harry paced back and forth as he muttered.

“That can wait, Potter. Why did you bring me here?”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Harry waved a hand and his life began to play, a visual image upon the nearest wall. “Life according to Hieronymus James Sirius Evan Potter.”

Snape ignored Harry’s comment, but only due to the shock the images caused.

 

Thirty seconds passed in McGonagall’s office between Snape casting the spell and the two sitting back and re-joining those waiting for them.

Snape looked at each of the students. “I find myself in a _**most**_ untenable position. I dislike the plans you’ve made, but I can unfortunately not see any better options. So far, I agree with Potter, that removing Black from Azkaban is a wise decision, as is leaving someone in his place. That you plan it to be the traitor, I find appealing. Swapping Black for the Evermond boy, is likewise a sensible move, both for Black and Evermond. The poor child deserves better than he’s currently getting. The acquisition and destruction of the Dark Lord’s Horcruxes is essential to destroying him. With Mr Longbottom’s access to time turners, there should be little concern in retrieving them.”

“We don’t need to retrieve them, sir.” Hermione corrected. “We plan to use the Room of Requirement to call each piece of soul, releasing them as we go. But retrieving the actual items themselves? Not really necessary. Oh, we’ll do it, simply to stop someone else from getting a hold of such valuable items, but we don’t need to retrieve them to destroy the Horcruxes.”

“How?” Snape snapped.

“Ah… can we talk about that later?” Dean asked. “It’s just… Time? We’re running out of night.”

The group all blinked and nodded.

“Very well.” Said Snape.

“Good. Four teams. Let’s get to it.” Ron bounced in his seat, then stopped. “What’s first?”

“First, is the Room of Lost Wands on the third floor. We all need a backup wand, perferrably two and no one wants to risk a charge of underage magic. Then team Scout will return to the dorms. You know what to do. Ron will fetch the rat and pass it along to me. Team Runes will see to the rituals and the potions those rituals need. Team Arrow will acquire some polyjuice and visit St Mungo's, retrieve two liquid ounces of Archer Evermond’s blood for the ritual and however much else Hermione and Draco request, to infuse into Padfoot. Team Explanation will head to the shrieking shack and meet with Remus Lupin and bring him up to date and into the equations. At that point Team Explanation will split into at least three parts, Professor McGonagall will return to Hogwarts and assist Team Runes. Team Boom, will travel with Team Payback, to Azkaban, where they will split from the later team and wreak havoc on the island. Team Payback will retrieve Padfoot, explain to him what’s happening, leave a transfigured Pettigrew in his place and place appropriate anti-Animagi wards on the entire island, the bastard’s got no mental shields and the dementor are going to love him. Team Payback will meet up with Teams Runes and Arrow to complete the necessary rituals to turn Padfoot into a copy of Archer Evermond, after which Team Arrow, plus Draco, will return to St Mungo's and swap the original and the copy.” Harry addressed the group in the office, in exactly the same manner that he would conduct a mission briefing for his Aurors, which was something of a shock to McGonagall and Snape, but both were doing their best to focus on the information being offered.

“Those of us leaving the castle, will be making full use of the twenty-four hours that the time turners can afford us, at some point. Hence I want us all to leave our 'official' wands in our dorms, we can’t take a chance of underage use with them.” He was surrounded by nodding heads. “Somewhere in there, Draco, you need to warn your parents, but please remind them that they can’t let the ‘unturned you’ know what’s happening.” Draco nodded, again. “You all know how to bind an item to yourselves, so grab a repulsor and do that before we leave the tower. Once Padfoot is settled in St Mungo's as Archer, all teams will return to the castle and gather in the Room of Requirement. I’m sure we have a lot more to discuss and if we need to, we can reuse the time turners, once we’ve regrouped.”

Again a round of nods. “Good.” Harry said. “Let’s get a move on.”

 

At five minutes past midnight, the trapdoor in the main hallway of the shrieking shack lifted and a shaggy mess of Black hair emerged. Quickly followed by the rest of Harry Potter and then Minerva McGonagall and two other students.

“Wotcha, Harry.” A voice came from the large room to their left and on entering the room the four newcomers saw a pink haired young woman sat on the lap of a man, on the only piece of furniture in the room.

 ** _“Tonks!?”_**  Harry exclaimed.

“Yes, Tonks.” The man growled. “Want to explain?”

“Um…” Harry hesitated.

 ** _“What the bloody hell did you do to my wife and I, Potter?”_** Remus Lupin howled.


	3. Chapter 3

_At five minutes past midnight, the trapdoor in the main hallway of the shrieking shack lifted and a shaggy mess of black hair emerged. Quickly followed by the rest of Harry Potter and then Minerva McGonagall and two other students._

_“Wotcha, Harry.” A voice came from the large room to their left and on entering the room the four newcomers saw a pink haired young woman sat on the lap of a man, on the only piece of furniture in the room._

**_“Tonks!?”_ ** _Harry exclaimed._

_“Yes, Tonks.” The man growled. “Want to explain, Potter?”_

_“Um…” Harry hesitated._

**_“What the bloody hell did you do to my wife and I, Potter?”_ ** _Remus Lupin howled._

 

 ** _“Me?!”_**  Harry squawked. “Why is it my fault?!”

“Because you’re a Potter, if there’s a Potter involved, it’s generally the Potter’s fault.” Remus explained with a snarl.

“Well not this time.” Harry gave the werewolf a sweet innocent smile, before he went on. “There’s a possibility that that Hermione could blame me for her time-translocation… but the rest of you…? Nope, no way.” Harry shook his head.

“Are you _**sure?”**_

“Bloody hell, Remus! You were dead and as far as most of us were concerned, you’d been dead for twenty years.” Harry snapped back.

“Dead. What do you mean dead? Dora and I were duelling the Lestrange brothers.” Remus argued.

“Uh… Remus, that was at Hogwarts… in ’98. Hermione and I were studying the Veil… in 2019.”

“… wha…?”

“…but…?” Tonks and Remus exclaimed, at the same time.

“Yeah…” Harry sighed.

“We died.” Tonks’ question came out more as a statement.

“You did.”

“Then how did we get here?” She asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how you got here. I don’t know how Fred got here. I don’t know how George got here. How Seamus got here. How Dean got here. How Ron got here. How Draco got here. How Neville got here. How Luna got here. How McGonagall got here. I just don’t know.” Harry was almost crying by the time he finished.

Remus dumped Tonks onto the dilapidated settee and took the few steps needed to reach Harry, then he dropped to his knees and engulfed the small body in his arms.

“It’s alright, Harry, it’s alright. We don’t blame you. It’s alright. It’s just a shock, pup.” He whispered over and over, while Harry had a small breakdown.

“So far, at least four of our time travellers were already dead, before… whatever it was, happened.” Seamus told them.

“Four?” Tonks asked, leaving Remus to comfort Harry.

“Yes.” McGonagall answered. “You two, Severus Snape and Mr Fred Weasley died in the Battle of Hogwarts in ‘98... And Sirius Black went through the veil in ’95. Assuming, of course, that Mr Black has joined us.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” The pink haired woman asked McGonagall.

“Well, that’s complicated. Harry’s wondering… hoping… that Mr Black may have joined us. That being the case, this lot have a plan for… in Harry’s words… ‘busting him out’. It involves polyjuice, parseltongue, Pettigrew, an Animagus ward, dementor repulsors and a large diversion of explosives.” The Professor primly answered. “But the actual details? I think Harry was holding off on finalising them, until he’d spoken to you, Remus.”

“What do you… what about once Sirius is out? What will happen with him, then?”

“Ah, now that is… extremely delicate. There’s a young boy, same age as this lot, in St Mungo's. A muggleborn orphan, he was badly injured in a building collapse, Mr Draco Malfoy, who was a master healer before being ‘translocated’, as Harry calls it, is of the opinion that the boy only has a matter of hours to live, that he’s not responding to medical treatment.” McGonagall sighed.

“And being a muggleborn, the healers aren’t really going to put in too much effort.” Tonks added, cynically.

“Correct, Miss Tonks.”

“Mrs Lupin, please, Professor. We exchanged magical vows, so the chances are magic still considers us married… I hope. But do continue.”

“So, the plan is to take some of the boy’s blood and to perform an _[Exemplum Vitae](copy%20life)_ ritual, between Sirius and the boy, Archer Evermond. Then we’ll swap Sirius for him, taking the original Archer's body with us.” McGonagall held up a hand as Tonks objected. “You know very well what the healers will do with his body after death. They’ll just vanish it, at best they may transfigure it into something else, but without a family to claim him? He’ll just be discarded as quickly as possible.”

Tonks sighed. “Yeah.”

“What the plan for getting Sirius?” Remus asked, his arms still around Harry.

“An Auror-grade portkey to Azkaban’s dock, then Dean and Seamus will go cause merry mayhem, while Remus and I fetch Sirius. Swap the rat over and we’re out of there.” Harry whispered. “That’s assuming you’re going to help?” Harry lifted his head and met the werewolf’s eyes. “We going make your moons easier, too. Mione and Draco are getting the _[Exemplum Vitae](copy%20life)_  ritual and it’s potions ready, then they’ll brew up some  _[verum lupum](true%20wolf)_  and that should change your werewolf into a natural wolf.”

“Harry? What happened to Teddy?” Tonks asked. “Do we… is there any chance he came too?”

“From what we can work out… unlikely. Besides me, there’s only one thing we’ve all got in common, that is that we were all alive at the end of July 1991… Oh and all but you, Fred and Sirius, taught at Hogwarts.”

“What? You taught?” Tonks giggled.

“Tonks, I’ll have you know, I taught nearly thirty students for most of my fifth year, but after the war, I joined the Aurors. When I made Senior Auror, McGonagall asked me to teach an Ethics class for sixth and seventh years, I did that for the last ten years.” Harry replied, sharply.

“Oh…”

“Yeah, oh…” Harry nodded.

“So, um… has anyone told anyone? Cause I really want to tell my Mum. Otherwise she’s going to chuck a massive tantrum about me and Remus.” Tonks grimaced.

Harry grimaced to match. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.” He remembered Andromeda’s tantrums.

“I think that I had best handle that discussion, Mr Potter.” McGonagall suggested.

Harry and Tonks exchanged glances and both nodded, almost violently.

“Yes, please.” They both said, enthusiastically.

“Very well. Shall we go to our respective tasks?” The Professor may have phrased it as a question, but those in the room all heard the order behind it.

“Yes, Professor.” They all said.

“Uh, question?” Tonks raised a hand. “It’s after midnight. Are you sure we should be doing this right now?

“We have to. Classes start tomorrow.” Harry assured her, a wide eyed and innocent look on his face.

Tonks looked at him and said nothing, but her hair started to darken from bright pink towards a red-ish tone. Remus released Harry and crossed to his wife’s side and laid a hand on her wand-arm, while giving Harry a warning look.

“Alright, alright, spoil my fun.” Harry said. “We’re going to be using time turners and turning back twenty-four hours.”

“But-” Tonks started to interrupt.

“Yes, we know, but these come straight from the Unspeakables, Tonks. They have a twenty-four hour limit, not eight hours.” Harry waved her down and continued his briefing. “You two each grab a repulsor and bind it to you. Tonks, you and McGonagall turn back about sixteen hours, that should put about breakfast… Uh… What were you doing this morning and what are the chances that you’ll have to cross your own path?”

Remus looked at the discs and raised an eyebrow, he watched his wife grab one and place her blood on the runes etched into one side of the shiny silvery disc. And that silvery shine was what made him sit back, he wasn’t taking the chance of coming into contact with silver. Admittedly, in his non-werewolf form, it just made his skin itch, but the closer it was to the full moon, the worse the itch was and full moon was only five days ago.

“I’d say pretty small.” Tonks shrugged. “At seven this morning I received a message from Professor McGonagall to come to the shack and plan on staying here all day. I got here and there was no one else here, just a message written in the dust, in Remus’ handwriting, saying Mum’s on the dueller’s piste, so stay clear for the rest of the day.”

“Right. I’ll leave you two to deal with that and-” And Harry cut himself off as a patronus shimmered through the wall nearest the castle.

“Uh, Harry, Snape wants to know, if we can do the _[Exemplum Vitae](copy%20life)_  ritual between Archer and Padfoot, why aren’t we using it on Wormtail?” The otter asked in Hermione’s voice.

Harry just tilted his head and huffed.

“ _Expecto patronum_.” Once the almost solid griffin appeared and Remus, Tonks and McGonagall got passed their shock, Harry spoke to the conjuration. “Message to Hermione, regardless of location or eavesdroppers….” The griffin nodded. “You want me to do it  ** _there?_**  I was under the impression of needing a specific space…?” Harry nodded and the griffin leapt into the air, startling Tonks and Remus with the sight of the air actually moving.

“Harry…?” Remus asked.

“Yeah, it changed. Early 2000, I was still in Auror training but there was a call out to a wildlife preserve, the entire corps went, there was a chimera attacking the staff, Ron and I got in over our heads and a griffin pup saved my butt. It basically attached itself to me and became almost a familiar.”

“What happened?”

“She saved my life, multiple times. I lost her last year, Pansy Parkinson’s son decided that he could AK me, as payback for insulting his darling Mother. Chilli took it for me, she knocked me to the ground and the AK hit her square in the chest. She saved me. My patronus changed back in… what? 2005?” Harry asked the two boys with him.

“Nah, didn’t change until that German bloke tried to kill ya.” Seamus answered.

“Oh, yeah. 2007, then. Randolph Hessel, the German idiot. He figured if he killed me, he’d be remembered forever. Didn’t work out that way, after casting two AK’s at me and missing both times, Chilli landed on him and pretty much shredded him. If the idiot hadn’t tried it in front of the Wizengamot, Chilli might have been held accountable for attacking a wizard, but after watching the idiot fire off at least two AK's, and a crap load of other Dark curses, the Wizengamot just shook their heads and had him Kissed and dumped in the Norwegian Sea. I assume he died, as that was the middle of January.”

“Ah.” Remus didn’t get a chance to say anything else as the patronus-otter reappeared.

The otter spoke with Hermione’s voice, again. “You don’t need a ritual space, just enough space for the two beings to be within touching distance. The down side is that there is a possibility that the wards may detect something, but the odds are one in about fifteen-hundred. Draco suggests trying your Master Auror override, that may counter it and try putting the fact that the rat isn’t Padfoot, under a Fidelius and making yourself or Padfoot the Secret Keeper. Either that or modify the ritual slightly, combine it with Animagi and rewrite the rat’s Animagi form into being Padfoot’s human shape and lock it into the ritual. Your call.”

“Ooh, sneaky.” Tonks gave a fake shiver of excitement.

“He **_was_**  a Slytherin, last time.” Harry grinned.

“And this time?” Remus asked, his head tilted in question.

“A lion.” Harry’s grin grew wider at the shock on Remus’ face. “Alright, so I need the ritual and the potions.” He flicked his wand and after an “ _Expecto patronum_ ”, he gave the griffin another message. “Message to Mione… I’ll need the ritual itself and the potions, for both options. As agreed, we’ll turn back to 1am. We’ll still be in place and will wait on your arrival.” He turned the others. “Alright. Tonks with Professor McGonagall. Remus with me, Dean and Seamus, you stay with us until the island. All agreed?” The five other all nodded at him. “Turners out.” McGonagall, Dean and Seamus, all pulled time turners out from a pocket and placed the chains around their necks.

“Nymphadora over here, please.” McGonagall directed.

“Call me Dora, please, Professor.” Tonks may have begged, but she still gave Remus a kiss and crossed to stand in front of McGonagall and dipped her head when the Professor lifted the time turner’s chain.

“Very well… Dora. Potter? We’ll see you back at the castle. Where and what time?”

“11pm in the Room of Requirement, please, Professor.” Harry answered.

McGonagall nodded and turned the tiny hourglass over and over, thirty-two times, one per half hour. Then she let the timer spin.

The others watched as the two women vanished into the past, before turning to face Harry.

“Now wha’?” Seamus asked.

“Now we turn back to 1am and wait for Hermione and Draco to explain the finer details of all our options.” Harry answered.

“Right.” Seamus nodded. “And… how long is that?”

“Well… I’d say that as they have access to time turners, they’ll either be there waiting for us, or they'll be only a few minutes out.” Harry shook his head as he answered the Irish boy.

“Oh, right, forgot that.” Seamus grimaced.

“Yeah, kinda thought you might have.” Harry snorted at Dean smacking his boyfriend upside the head. “Alright, you two, enough. Let’s get going. Remus, over here.” Harry tilted his head as he studied the werewolf. “Might be best if you knelt down.” He huffed.

“Why not sit down?” Remus pointed a thumb at the settee.

“Cause, more than likely Mione going to use that as a book stand, to hold whatever she’s written out the rituals on.”

“Oh, right, of course.” Remus knelt in front of Harry, but as Harry held out the chain, Remus pulled back. “That better not be silver, Potter.”

“No, Remus, there’s no silver used in time turner’s or their chains, it doesn’t let the frequencies needed, travel through it fast enough. The Unspeakables use platinum and gold, depending on the number of hours it can turn back. These are platinum, they can turn a full twenty-four hours.” Harry answered and looped the chain over Remus’ head. He turned the dials and let the device do what it was made for.

The shack around them stayed the same, but light shimmered on the edges of their vision, lighting the room in a ghostly hue. Finally, the shimmering settled and Hermione, Draco and Snape appeared in the room. Harry let a few more seconds pass, before he lifted the turner’s chain from around his and Remus’ necks and turned to face the three newcomers.

“Hey.” He said.

“Hey.” Hermione answered.

Draco and Snape just nodded.

“Options for Padfoot? Go.” Harry ordered, not prepared to waste any more time.

“We’ve spent seventy-two hours in the Room, since your last patronus and we’ve got a solution. Or rather… Draco came up with a solution. It combines a polyjuice potion combined with a blood glamor and a variant on the Fidelius.” Hermione answered.

“Details.” Harry was treating the whole situation as a mission and the various components that were divided by department or task.

“Right. The potion.” Draco began. “It’s a variant that combines both Polyjuice and blood glamours, it has no actual time limit, but does require blood from the donor to be willingly given. That’s not all, if we want it to be unlimited time-wise it has to be not only drank, but also introduced into the recipient’s bloodstream, but that makes it poisonous to the recipient, if left untreated after a certain length of time it will become lethal. And the best thing is… when he dies, the glamor stays. Add to that a Knowledge Fidelius and we can lock-up the fact that he’s not Sirius Black, in such a way that no one can ever access it without the Secret Keepers. Keeper- ** _s_** , not Keep- ** _er_**. Here.” He handed Harry a sheet of parchment and went quiet while Harry read his notes. When the other boy nodded and handed it back, he handed over a smaller parchment. “The directions, just in case you need someone else to deal with it while you deal with the dementors.”

Harry nodded and accepted the parchment, folded it up and placed it in his inside coat pocket.

“Thanks. What about the Padfoot-to-Archer ritual?”

“Right. That needs to happen in St Mungo's.” Hermione sighed. “We can’t see any other way around it. Archer’s just not well enough for us to spirit him out, not even for the few minutes it will take to perform the ritual… And he has to be alive all the way through the ritual, otherwise it just won’t take.”

“She’s right.” Snape grunted. “The only way you’re going to be able to complete the ritual, is in St Mungo's.”

“Yes.” Draco also agreed. “We have everything ready to go. All we need is Archer’s blood, then Black. We add Archer’s blood to the potion and all that’s left then, is to lay Archer and Black side by side, we inject the potion into Black’s bloodstream, wait until it starts to take effect… usually about forty-five to fifty seconds. That’s the point that we have to start the ritual. And that needs two people to speak the corresponding parts of the spell and lasts another forty-five seconds, or there abouts.”

“That had best be you and Mione, then.” Harry replied.

“That would be best, yes.” Snape said.

“Then? For Padfoot, what then?” Remus asked.

“Then… Padfoot… will be Archer Evermond, muggleborn wizard. He’ll have to have an injection of the original Archer’s blood, just to give him enough toxins in his blood to incapacitate him, but not enough to be deadly. Which will result in an almost miraculous recovery, as the potions that St Mungo's are giving him will begin to work, the level of toxins being so much lower. Low enough that ongoing treatment can be handled at Hogwarts, as opposed to St Mungo's, if Hogwarts provides the right encouragment.… This in turn, will mean that St Mungo's will release him, to Hogwarts’ hospital wing, if he has a full-time, specialist child healer in attendance. Yes, he’ll be debilitated from his time in Azkaban, but most of that will be camouflaged by the injuries from the building collaps and can be taken care of quite easily.” Draco said. “I’ve floo-called Mother and she’s agreed that if Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall ask, she will come to Hogwarts as his primary carer, until St Mungo's give him a clear bill of health. It should only be a matter of a few days, or maybe a week, until he’s able to join us in the dorms, but it will be some weeks before he’s completely recovered.”

“I’d like to wait until he’s flight-worthy before tackling Snake-face.” Harry said.

“Well, you’ve got time turners. Getting him back to full health won’t take long, but do give it a week or two, you don’t want Pomfrey or Dumbledore getting suspicious.” Remus warned.

“True, but Siri- Archer is likely to find it a great prank to let them think he’s not quite recovered. And with Draco and Snape to help with the potions side of things, to support that? We should be able to keep them oblivious until it no longer matters.”

“Particularly if we have McGonagall and Snape to back us up.” Dean added.

“Order of actions?” Seamus asked.

“One. Draco will give me the Wormtail-to-Padfoot potions. Two. Draco, Hermione and Snape will get set up for the Padfoot-to-Archer ritual. Three. Dean, Seamus, Remus and I portkey to the island’s dock. Four. Dean and Seamus create hell-on-earth-and-Azkaban. Five. At the same time, Remus and I will fetch Padfoot, we’ll add his blood to the potion. We force the rat into drinking half the potion and inject him with the other half. Cast the knowledge Fidelius and get the ho-boy out of there.” Harry was counting these off on his fingers as he went. “Six. Meet Draco, Hermione and whoever is with them, possibly Snape, McGonagall, Tonks and Luna, here in the Shack. It's likely that Padfoot has questions and I may need Draco and Hermione to be able to answer them to the degree he wants. Luna, by this time should have the blood from Archer for the Padfoot-to-Archer ritual. Seven. Complete the Padfoot-to-Archer ritual, at St Mungo's. Eight. Return to Hogwarts and the Room of Requirement. Wait for everyone to gather at 11pm.” He looked around. “Anything I missed?”

Hermione tilted her head. “No… I think that’s about right. If we meet again on Monday night, we can make plans for the next stage.”

“The removal of Riddle?” Seamus asked.

“No, for Padfoot’s recovery. We need-”

“From this point on, Archer Davis Evermond, the original, is to be called Davis, while Padfoot is to be called Archer.” Harry cut in. “And yes, we need to make plans for that, but not tonight. Tonight’s tasks are to swap the rat for Sirius Black and Padfoot for Davis. Tomorrow, we can assess and make a plan of attack for the future.”

“Calling the original, Davis, also allows us to speak about him, we can always say that he was Archer’s brother and killed in the building collapse and we know that as a muggle, the Wizarding world won’t care enough to check.” Draco added.

“And that’s assuming that they even know how to check.” Hermione said scathingly.

“Then I suggest we get moving, the night is passing.” Snape’s voice cut through any objections.

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Of course, Snape.” The three comments were each said by multiple people.

“Remus? Here, bind it to you. It’s a dementor repulsor.” Harry held out a small shiny metal disc to Remus. “And no, it’s not silver, it’s aluminium. Scrap from a soda can. And don't forget the message for Tonks.”

“Oh… okay, then.” As Remus spoke Draco was handing Harry a small pouch, before the werewolfe turned to the hearth and used his fingers to write in the dust.

“Each phial needs thirteen drops of blood, the phials are labelled, ‘drink’ and ‘inject’ just in case.” The blonde boy said. “To inject the potion into the rat, all you need to do is to tap the stopper against a major blood vessel, just make sure he’s in human form before you start, or he’ll be trapped in Padfoot’s canine form, until he dies.”

“Yeah… let’s not be doing that.” Harry agreed. “Everyone clear?”

“Yes, Hellion.”

“Yes, Potter.”

“Yes, pup.” They all agreed.

“Okay, then. Activate discs.” All of the rescue team, tapped their wands against their shiny discs, all pinned proudly on their chests. “Portkeys ready?”

“Ready.” They all answered.

“Seamus on one. Dean on two. Remus on three. I’m on four.”

“I’m on one.” Seamus stated.

“I’m on two.” Dean added.

“Uh… three?” Remus assumed he was supposed to add his own number.

“I’m on four.” Harry nodded and took a deep breath. “Activate on call… One…” Seamus tapped his portkey and vanished. “Two…” Dean vanished. “Three…” Remus took his own deep breath and vanished. “See you in an hour or so.” Harry gave Hermione a rakish grin and vanished.

“Right.” Said Draco. “We’ve another ritual to prepare for. Let’s head out, ourselves.” He held out an empty phial.

He was answered by Snape and Hermione’s nods. The three carefully placed a finger on the phial and Draco activated the portkey.

 

On a dock in the middle of the North Sea, four people appeared out of nowhere. One by one, they appeared, until with the fourth person’s arrival they nodded to each other and split into two pairs. One went south and the other went in through the main entryway, a huge square opening with no doors.

Seamus and Dean crept along the base of the massive tower, they planned to lay muggle explosives at the strongest points of the tower. They weren’t there for the destruction. No, they were there to create a distraction. Thus their carefully chosen targets.

This idea had been had been running through their heads for some years now… Or rather, the reverse of this. Their plan had been to target the weakest points of the tower, to bring it down and make it a pile of rubble. Instead, they were going for the strongest points, they wanted the tower to shake and shudder, but not to fall. They wanted all the guards attention on the base of the tower and not on the upper levels.

In the upper levels, Remus followed the slight figure of his friend’s son, wondering how the hell the kid knew where to go. Up stairs and down corridors, passed cells where the inmates called out to them, only once did the boy stop.

At the cell of Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry walked closer to the bars.

“Careful.” Remus warned and Harry nodded in response.

Bella cackled and danced to the bars. “Does ickle-little Potty-pooh… want… to…” Her laughter drained away at whatever she saw in Harry’s eyes. As time passed, her expression grew more and more fearful.

“Bellatrix Lestrange, nee Black.” Harry gave her a small smile that **_very_**  definitely didn’t reach his eyes. “While you may be extremely grateful there are bars between us, Bella, these bars will not protect you.”

“What are you going to do?” The now rattled woman asked.

“Today is the 1st of September 1991, Bella. Do you know who is Lord of your House?”

Bellatrix’s frowned, before her eyes widened. “No…?!” She gasped.

“You would do well to remember what you are… and what you would be without your House.” Harry nodded to the woman, just as he would to any woman on the street.

“Wait!” She called.

“Why? You have nothing I want, Bella.” Harry smiled and kept walking, ignoring her calling after him. Around a corner and up another flight of steps and Remus’ sensitive hearing could still hear her yelling.

“Uh… Pup? How much further?” Remus asked.

Harry didn’t answer, but he did stop at another set of bars.

“Oi, Pads, not going to say hello?” Harry drawled.

The thing in the corner of the cell, lifted it’s head and dull grey eyes looked out at him. First, blankly, then with confusion, that slowly shifted to derision.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, Voldemort.” He sighed and dropped his head back into the tattered remains of his cloak.

“Ooh, you’ve **_got_**  to be kidding me?” Harry whined. “What the frigging hell?” He threw his head and groaned. “God damn it, Padfoot, get your miserable, mangy, flea bitten ass up off the **_bloody floor!”_**

The man in the cell, the man scrunched up into a small, very uncomfortable looking shape, lifted his head and looked at the boy and the werewolf standing outside the bars.

“Master Auror Override. Code… 4943. Password phrase… Hermione wants to neuter Padfoot for upsetting the Marauder’s Hellion.” Harry said and he prayed that magic liked him enough to recognise his Oath-sworn authority.

A voice from the wall sounded. “Master Auror Override accepted.”

He sighed, part in pleasure, part in relief. “Right, Padfoot? I know you can do some wandless, cast a tempus.”

The man in the cell barked a laugh. “You should know better than that, no one can do magic in Azkaban.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to loose, have you? Cast a tempus, with location, if you please.”

“Alright, just to prove you wrong.  _[Tempus et locuus](Time%20and%20Place%20identifying%20charm)_.” The man chanted… his eyes widened and his jaw fell as, in his own handwriting, numbers then letters began to appear.

**_1.34am, 1 st September 1991._ **

**_Cell 37, level 18, Azkaban Prison, Azkaban Island, North Sea._ **

His own blocky writing, sat in the air in front of him, the shock of it actually appearing, distracted him from what it said, until the date caught his attention. Then… that was all he **_could_**  see. The seconds passed and finally he managed to drag his eyes away from the floating writing.

“And why am I to supposed to believe what I see?”

“You want **_more_**  proof?” Harry huffed. “Geez, you’re asking. Alright… The last few sentences you said to me, first at King’s Cross Station and then at the Dom, were….In relation to the war. 'It feels like it did before…'  In relation to a photo. 'You keep it….' In relation to me and my friends. 'Anyway, I suppose you’re the young ones, now…' At the DoM. 'Now listen to me, I want you to take the others and get out of here… You’ve done beautifully, now let me take it from here…' and the very last…  right in front of the Veil. 'Nice one, **_James'_**.” Harry snarled. “You bloody well called me ‘James’, you bloody great **_pillock_**.” Harry almost spat the last word. “You offered me a home and then you let bloody Bellatrix take that away from me, Sirius. Time to pay up, Marauder.”

The man in the cell, Sirius Black looked at his godson in shock. He was so sure that this was some sort of new torture, but those few sentences were completely private, no one was present to overhear them, no one.

“Harry…?” He asked, his voice rough and cracked.

“Hieronymus James Sirius Evan Potter… at your service.” The boy gave an overly dramatic bow. “Now, do you want out? Do you want revenge? I can give you both, in one go.” Harry grinned and unknowingly it was the same expression that the Marauder’s called Lily’s ‘going murdering’ grin.

“Oh, sweet Merlin!” Sirius whispered and looked to Remus with wide eyes. “He’s got Lily’s murdering look down pat.”

Remus looked, shuddered and nodded. “He does, Pads.”

“So how do you plan to spring me, pup?” Sirius asked. “Without proper documentation, I can’t leave this cell… not easily anyway.”

“Oh, that’s taken care of. Here, catch, just don’t kill him. I’ve plans for him.” Harry threw an unconscious, fat rat through the bars.

“ ** _Wormtail_**.” Sirius snarled. “Why shouldn’t I kill him?”

“Because he’s about to become Sirius Black, while you will become Padfoot and leave with us.” Harry chanted in a sing-song voice.

“Has he been snorting Dumbledore’s lemon drops?” Sirius asked Remus.

“Nope.” Harry smirked and held out a phial. “Thirteen drops of your blood in that, please. Remus? Turn the rat into his human form, please? Keep him stunned, though.”

Both men shrugged and did what the boy asked. Sirius snarled again as the rat became a small fat man.

“Good stuff. Sirius? Hand me back the phial and do the same to this one. Then pour it down the rat’s throat.” Harry waited until Sirius had opened Peter Pettigrew’s mouth and trickled in the potion, rubbing at the traitor’s throat until he swallowed. “Great, now here. Press the stopper against his jugular. Then step away and change into Padfoot, while he changes into Sirius Black, mass murderer.” Harry beamed as his godfather leant down and became a great shaggy Grimm-like dog. “Now, come on out, Pads. And let me do some highly illegal and thankfully untraceable wand-work.”

The dog hesitated, but the way that his pack-mate was deferring to the small boy, was encouraging him to do the same. So, he crept forward and for the second time since his interment, he left his cell in his Animagus form.

Padfoot leant against his pack-mate while their alpha-pup chanted. The complexity of the wand movements and the wording of the spell, confused Sirius. At first it sounded like a _Fidelius_ , but the wand movements were almost that of a Notice-Me-Not, then it was the other way around, before shooting off on a tangent away from both spells, into something that neither man had ever heard of before.

When he finished, Harry sighed and let his whole body slump against the bars.

“Right he’s done. The potions will keep him like that until he dies and beyond.” Harry sighed. “Come on, you two.” He held out a stick of about wand-length, his hand in the middle of it’s length. “Pads, bite down on one end, please.” The dog did as he was told and half-growled, half-whined as Harry pat him on the head. “Good dog.” The boy turned to the werewolf. “You next.”

“I am **_not_**  biting that.” The werewolf denied.

The boy rolled his eyes and huffed. “Just take hold of the bloody stick, Moony.” As he did Harry lifted his head spoke, as though to the ceiling. “Master Auror Override dismiss in ten… nine… eight… seven… six…” The ‘voice’ from the wall joined the count at ‘six’.

“Five… four… three… two… one… Master Auror Override dismissed.” The voice said, but the corridor was empty. On the count of ‘two’, Harry had activated the portkey ‘stick’ and the three males were spun away.

When the spinning stopped the three travellers found themselves in a familiar room.

“The shack?” Sirius asked.

“Just for the moment.” Harry answered. “Give me a couple of minutes to send some messages and I’ll bring you up to date on our plans.”

Sirius said nothing but he dragged the boy into his arms and held him tight. “I’m sorry, pup.”

“Two minutes, Sirius, two minutes and I’m all yours.” Harry hugged him, before pushing his upper body out of his Godfather's arms. “ _Expecto patronum_.” He chanted and waited for the griffin to appear. “Message to Seamus and Dean.” The griffin nodded. “Free and clear, time to stick it.” It was the pre-arranged message, to tell Seamus and Dean that Harry and Remus had successfully retrieved Sirius and were back at the shack. The griffin nodded and leapt into the air and disappeared through the nearest wall.

Harry turned back to Sirius. “Right. So Wormtail is now Sirius Black and is in the appropriate cell until he dies, which won’t take long. The potions will breakdown in his system inside the hour and will leave no residues, but the effects of them are long lasting. They’re also poisonous without an ongoing treatment. It will take about a month, but he’s going to die as Sirius Black.”

“Good.” Both men nodded sharply.

“Now… we have a plan for you. But, I refuse to act on this plan...  _ **unless**_ you agree.” Harry warned.

A thump and Seamus and Dean fell to the floor as their portkey deposited them back in the shack. Seamus had blood trickling down his face and Dean was covered in dark grey dust.

“Guys?” Harry spun out of Sirius’ arms and darted over to the boys, while Sirius moved back to the settee.

“Nah worries, mate.” Seamus grinned wildly. "One of the boulders weren’t as solid as we expected, shrapnel went everywhere.” And he proceeded to shake his head, sending stone fragments everywhere, before conjuring up a mirror and beginning the process of healing his cuts.

“This is the result.” Dean grinned, too. “But it came in handy, some of the guards moved faster than we expected. The boulder slowed them down and made them a little more cautious in moving forward. I think one of them might have copped the brunt of the blast, he was still walking, just shaking his head a lot.”

“Fine with that. I’ll finish up explaining to Padfoot, you can stay or go as you please.” Harry offered.

“We’ll catch some sleep upstairs, if you don’t mind?” Dean asked as Seamus kept on healing up his miriad of small cuts.

“Nah, go for it. If we need you, we’ll wake you.” Harry answered and the two boys wandered out of the room, already in each other’s arms. He turned back to the two men.

“What’s the idea?” Sirius squinted with narrowed eyes at his godson, he knew the boy was as much his Mother’s son, as his Father’s and as such his plans were spectacular.

“There’s a boy my age in St Mungo's, he’s dying. Our Master Healer says there’s no chance for him, it only a matter of hours. We want to use a blood-based ritual to make you into an exact copy of him and swap the two of you over.”

“I think his family might object, pup.”

“He has no family, he’s a muggleborn orphan. He was badly injured in a landslide and building collapse, but because the muggles got to him first and St Mungo's weren’t notified of his condition, the damage was done. His lower body, left leg from the knee up to his pelvis and the right leg from the knee to mid thigh, were crushed. The toxins from his blood being cut off and starting to coagulate are going to be lethal. The muggles had him for too long and now St Mungo's can’t reverse it. Add to that the fact that his brain was starved of oxygen for too long and there’s no chance. The Healers have repaired the structural damage, but are unable to do anything about the mental damage.”

“Poor kid.” Remus sighed.

“Yeah…” Harry sighed.

“What’s involved in this ritual? And where did you find it?” Sirius asked.

“That requires a little explanation. Please hold any comments or question until I finish, as some questions will be answered as I progress.” Harry responded in his lecturing tone and both men nodded, even if Sirius’ brows rose in reaction to Harry’s comments. “Thank you. First, the war. We might have ended it and I might have off-ed snake-face, but we almost lost. Not the war, but our future.”

The two men frowned, but stayed quiet.

“I’ll give a very brief outline of the war, it’s important, but only in that it explains why things went the way they did. Sirius, you went through the veil on Tuesday the 18th of June 1996, right?” Sirius nodded in answer. “Dumbledore escorted us students straight back to Hogwarts, and that night he told me about the prophecy and Voldy’s Horcruxes, which really pissed me off. I destroyed his office and all his nice shiny little tracking devices… not that I knew about them until much later, but hey, it gave me a little bit of privacy that summer. Sixth year was bland, Snape was moved to the DADA post and we suspected Draco Malfoy of having joined snake-face. Draco had joined him, but wasn’t very happy about it, he and I did our normal argument and he came off second best, no different to any other time. Then Dumbledore took me to hunt down one of Voldy’s Horcruxes, only it turned out, that one Regulus Black had got there before us. He’d turned against the Dark Idiot after the Dark Idiot tortured Kreacher. Unfortunately retrieving the Horcruxe container was to prove fatal for Regulus, but Kreacher obeyed his master and the Horcruxe joined the other Dark items in Grimmauld Place. On arrival back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore and I found that Death Eaters had been let into the castle. Snape killed Dumbledore.” Here Harry paused while Sirius ranted about slimy snakes. “There’s more to it than just that, but I didn’t find that out until later and I’m doing this in the order it happened, so shut up and **_listen!_** ” He finally snapped.

The two men jumped at the vehemence in Harry’s voice and sat themselves back on the settee, while Harry continued to lecture.

“Snape killed Dumbledore and escaped, taking Draco Malfoy with him. Hermione, Ron and I, attended Dumbledore’s funeral, before meeting up to make some plans, up on the astronomy tower. We decided that we weren’t returning to Hogwarts that next year, instead we were going to hunt Horcruxes. And we did. But Hogwarts and the Ministry fell under Voldy’s control. Snape was installed as Headmaster and the Carrow twins were assigned to control the students. Detentions were served **_only_**  with the Carrows and were given for any number of things, looking someone in the eye, one day and not looking that same person in the eye, another, but students weren’t notified when the rules changed. Purebloods were mostly safe, but blood-traitors were ranked down with the muggleborns. Detentions were usually served either putting someone under the Cruciatus or being put under it, themselves. Plus a whole host of other curses and hexes were used on anyone a pureblood felt like.” Harry paused and lifted a hand. “Like I said, there’s more to it, I just didn’t know it at the time.” The two men settled back down, their faces hard and angry. “On Saturday the 2nd of May, I killed him and we ended the war.” Both men wore satisfied expressions. “Ron, Hermione and I went to Hogwarts, we’d hunted down all the Horcruxes and knew there were only two left. One was in the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts and the other was Voldy’s snake, Nagini. I confronted Snape and while he escaped, he didn’t go far. Voldy was attacking the school. McGonagall had Filch escort the younger students out and lock up most of the Slytherins. The fight was brutal and deaths were everywhere. Remus, Tonks, Fred and a whole heap of students that had stayed to fight. In a lull, we destroyed the Horcruxe in the castle and that was when Draco realised that Voldy expected his loyalty, demanded it, but had no intention of returning it. He started to fight with the defenders, instead of against them.”

“And Snape?” Sirius looked like he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“We hunted Voldy down to the boathouse. He had both Lucius Malfoy and Snape with him. Malfoy begged to be able to bring Draco away, but Voldy didn’t care about any of his followers and ordered Malfoy back to the battle. He talked to Snape for a bit, but didn’t like what he was told. He sliced Snape’s neck open with a cutting curse and set Nagini on him, told her ‘Nagini, kill’ and that’s what she did. Once Voldy apparated away with her, something made me go to Snape.” Harry’s voice cracked.

“Pup?” Sirius asked.

“He was dying, Sirius. He gave me his memories and told me to take them to the Headmaster’s pensieve.” Harry shuddered, for him it had been more than twenty years, but he still found the memories to be upsetting. “I watched them… The things I said to him, the names we all called him, the doubt we all felt. I’m ashamed of myself. He was on our side, in his heart he was completely and utterly loyal to one person and one person only... Lily Juniper Evans.”

“What?” Neither man expected to hear that.

“Mum. The moment Voldy targeted Mum, he lost Snape, completely and irrevocably. Snape was the first on the scene after Voldy killed Mum and Dad, he held Mum in his arms and cried for her, before she was even cold and he made her a promise. He promised that he’d do all that he could protect me. He-”

“He failed!” Sirius began to rant. “He. _**Failed**_.”

“He did, but only because Dumbledore set him up **_to_**  fail. As far as he knew I was being raised as a pampered and spoilt brat. By the time he realised I wasn’t, it was too late, Dumbledore had isolated both of us and also had nearly complete control of both of us. The way he treated me and the other Gryffindors? Yes, it was deliberate, but it was done to protect us. Mostly from the Slytherins reporting back to their parents.” Harry let his head fall into his hands. “He died, basically in my arms. He died a hero. Seventeen years he spied for the light, seventeen years he lead a double life, seventeen years he waited to keep his promise to Mum, only to die minutes before I killed Voldy.” Tears ran down Harry’s face.

Sirius saw the tears and it broke his heart to see his godson cry. He slid from the settee and gathered Harry into his arms, again.

“That’s not going to happen, pup, we won’t let it.” He assured the boy.

When Harry stopped crying, he took a few shuddering breaths and continued his story. “After watching Snape’s memories, I told Ron and Hermione that I was also a Horcruxe. Dumbledore knew and when he destroyed a Horcruxe the curse on it rebounded and was killing him, so he made Snape promise to kill him and in such a way as to secure Snape’s position in Voldy’s army.  Dumbledore basically told him that he was raising me for slaughter. And he left it to Snape to tell me. Six months before he died, he made the decision that there was no other way around it, I had to commit suicide by Voldy’s wand, or the war would never end. He knew six months before he died and he refused to tell me, he made Snape swear on his life and magic that he wouldn’t tell me until it came down to the final battle. When he told Snape, that was the point that he lost Snape.”

Both Sirius and Remus exploded in furious snarls and angry words.

“It’s not an issue this time, guys. We know and in a few weeks we’ll deal with it. I know how to destroy the Horcruxe, the one in my head and all the others. Without killing me, I might add. But then? I saw no other way to stop him, than to die. I know better now, fifteen years of working with the Unspeakables  has taught me a lot. But not back then. I went into the forest to die and die I did. I just didn’t stay dead. Thanks to Dumbledore, I thought Voldy making me a Horcruxe meant I had to die at his hand, but because he used my blood in his resurrection ritual, he’d linked us together. Almost like _**he**_ was _**my**_ Horcruxe, but without the murdering part. That left me a way to return. I did and after a few more duels and a lot more deaths, it was just him and me. I lived, he didn’t.” Harry let his head fall onto Sirius’ shoulder.

“On Saturday the 2nd of May 1998, I killed him and we ended the war… Or so we thought.”

Remus conjured a chair for Harry and Sirius and they sat opposite him, Harry leant against his godfather and sighed.

“We were wrong.”


	4. Chapter 4

_“On Saturday the 2 nd of May, I killed him and we ended the war… Or so we thought.” _

_Remus conjured a chair for Harry and Sirius and they sat opposite him, Harry leant against his godfather and sighed._

_“We were wrong.”_

 

He sighed again. “It took a couple of years to work it out. It was Draco, that first realised. He was sentenced to two thousand days, almost five and half years, of community service and chose to work in St Mungo's hospital, he was allowed to study and train, but any interactions with a patient had to be supervised. It was he that realised that there weren’t many children being born and asked for permission to investigate. Ron and I had gone into the Auror corps and we were assigned to escort Draco and assist in his research. What we found was… devastating. Between the 1st of January 1998 and the 2nd of May that same year, thirty nine babies were born each month. But… between the 3rd of May 1998 and the 3rd of May 2003? In the five years after the war, less than thirty babies were born. For the entire five years.”

Remus blinked and asked, “Teddy?”

“Teddy?” Sirius asked. “Who’s Teddy?”

“Teddy was Remus’ son,” Harry paused, smiling as Sirius gaped at his friend, “and he was one of the last born before the war. We took our findings to the Wizengamot and they freaked out. Someone mentioned a marriage law, but that was shut down very quickly, as St Mungo's didn’t know what was **_causing_**  the infertility, they had no way of diagnosing who had it and who **_didn’t_**. It was then that one enthusiastic researcher, named Hermione Granger, figured out that the muggleborns outnumbered those born in the Wizarding world. By a lot. Hermione and Draco joined forces to get a complete picture and it wasn’t good. With the deaths during the war and those that left Britain, they worked out that our population had dropped by over well over one-third of our population, in less than eighteen months and that the losses were over half of our child-bearing population. And with the lack of newborns, we weren’t replenishing our numbers fast enough to be sustainable. Wizarding Britain was dying.”

He lifted his head and looked at them.

“Whatever the Carrows had done to the students, it was to prove permanent and irreversible. Of the two hundred-odd students, less than a dozen were unaffected and surprisingly, not all of those were Slytherins, but all **_were_**  purebloods. Those older or younger weren’t affected to the same degree, unless they’d been within a certain distance of the Carrows, directly, in which case…?”

“No children for them?” Remus whispered.

“No children for them.” Harry sighed, as he nodded. “The Wizengamot were useless and handed the whole thing over to the Unspeakables. It took them six months, but they finally found a solution. A way to take a healthy magical child and using a barely legal, blood-based ritual and even less legal potions, they were able to copy a person’s genetic identity. An exact copy, right down to the blood identity and the magical signature. But because the child was pre-existing, their physical age and medical condition were carried over, not the donor’s. As an example, a couple could adopt a male child and the Unspeakables would perform the ritual, to make a child an exact copy of the man, then a simple blood adoption by the man’s wife, would give the child a fractionally different magical signature to the man. Same if the they adopted a girl child, she'd be made into an exact copy of the wife and then another blood adopt by the husband. Couples would raise those children as their own. The Wizengamot put the call out to the ICW for help and muggleborn children, who were orphaned or removed from abusive homes, were brought to Britain from all over the world. People were given the chance to adopt, but to do so, they had to pass a stringent set of tests and even after they took a child home, they were continually monitored.”

Sirius whistled through his teeth.

“And yes, the purebloods supported the program, the alternative was Wizarding Britain dying out. And by the time they realised that being a pureblood was no help in getting onto the Unspeakables’ list of prospective adopters, it was too late for them to interfere, the ICW were already involved.”

“Whoa.” Sirius gasped.

“And this is the ritual you want to use for Sirius?” Remus asked.

“Pretty much, yeah. In Sirius’ case, there’ll also be an Oath, a de-aging potion and an injection of a small dose of the toxins that are killing Archer Davis Evermond.” Harry paused. “And a change to your Will.”

“Why?” Remus asked.

“The ways things currently stand, Sirius has left everything to me. That includes the Head of House title to the House of Black.” Harry began to explain.

“Yes… and?” Sirius raised a brow in question.

“I’m the last surviving member of the House of Potter.” Harry reminded Sirius.

“Oh, right…” Sirius sighed. “Bollocks.”

“Someone care to explain to the halfblood werewolf, exactly what that means?” Remus looked from Harry to Sirius and back again.

“King Arthur and Merlin decreed that no one wizard or witch can hold more than one title. The muggles get around that by the fact that Merlin and Arthur’s decree clearly stated ‘wizard or witch’, nothing was said about a non-magical man or woman.” Sirius answered.

A patronus of a hawk flew through the wall and spoke with a boy’s voice. “Are you ready for us, yet. We’ve got news on Archer and his heritage.”

“Pup?” Sirius nodded his head in the hawk’s direction.

“That’s Draco’s patronus. He, Hermione and probably Snape, are waiting for me to explain all this to you, before they come and explain more about the ritual.”

“Then by all means, have them come. I have questions that want answering, before I agree to this.” Sirius waved magnanimously.

“But you **_are_**  considering it?” Harry asked worriedly.

“I am. But… like I said, I want answers and if they’re the best to answer…?”

“Yeah, I figured you might. Hang on.” Harry turned away from Sirius. “ _Expecto patronum_.” Once the griffin stood in front of him, he spoke again. “Message to Draco.” The griffin nodded. “Back in the shack. Bring whoever and whatever you need to answer any and all questions.” The griffin nodded and flew off through the nearest wall. “They’ll be along soon.”

“Alright, what else do we need to discuss?” Remus asked.

“Oh, thanks I nearly forgot.” Harry dug his arm into a pocket and pulled out a wad of paper. “Here, Remus check this out.” He handed it over to Remus.

The werewolf opened the folded bundle and began to read, he didn’t get very far, before looking back at Harry.

“These are guardianship papers, Harry.”

“Only the top set. The second set are adoption papers.” Harry answered.

“Pup?”

“What it comes down to is, the Dursley's are moving to America. Dumbledore’s not going to let that happen… if he knows about it in advance. We don’t plan on telling him until he can’t do anything about it.”

“He’s not going to like that, pup.” Sirius grinned.

“No, probably not, but here’s the thing…. Dumbledore’s been isolating me from the magical world and now I’ve entered Hogwarts, he’s not going to want me to go to America, right? And, of course Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon don’t want me to, either. So, it makes sense that Aunt Petunia would reach out to one of the few magical people she knows, luckily it’s one who lives partially in the muggle world. One of my Father’s friends and the only one still alive. Please remember that by the time Dumbledore finds out, the rat-disguised-as-Sirius will have died. But the way the papers have been written, Dumbledore can’t just cross your name out and put his in it’s place. He’s going to have to accept it and this is where it get’s complicated.”

“Really…? Remus whined. “This isn’t complicated yet?”

“Nope, not nearly.” Harry grinned. “Draco showed Snape and Lucius Malfoy his memories of the future of Wizarding Britain and how close we came to loosing it, forever. Even by 2019, when we… left, turned back, time travelled, whatever you want to call it… Even then, our population wasn’t back to pre-war numbers and our birth-rates were still too low to be self-sustainable. But they were improving.” He sighed. “Like I said, Draco showed his Father and Snape, at the time, both men were under the impression that it was just Draco that had ‘travelled’ and both agreed to help him in any way they could to avoid a post-war collapse. One of the things that Snape said, is that he would get Dumbledore to assign Snape as my magical guardian.”

“But…?” Sirius whined.

“Hush, Padfoot.” Remus conjured a rolled up newspaper and brandished it in front of Sirius’ face.

“Draco and Snape believe that, having Remus as my muggle guardian would encourage Dumbledore to agree that Snape should be my **_magical_**  guardian. He’s likely to be concerned about Remus’ loyalty, that he might be more loyal to me than to Dumbledore and he would expect that the two would argue over how I should be raised. Resulting in Dumbledore being the mediator between the two and as such the one to actually make the decisions.”

Both Sirius and Remus frowned as they thought that through and both were nodding when Harry continued.

“The end plan is to have Remus as my _**muggle**_ guardian for a length of time, before submitting the muggle adoption papers. Due to his condition, he’ll never be considered as my _**magical**_ guardian, but if we can slip the adoption through without Dumbledore noticing, it cuts off any hope of Dumbledore being in control.”

“It will.” Snape said as he entered the room with Draco, Hermione, Tonks, Luna and McGonagall. “Lupin… Black…” He nodded to them, while the rest just nodded.

“And what about me? I mean after this copying ritual?” Sirius asked.

“Ah, we had plans for that, that we’ve had to change slightly.” Draco grimaced.

“Why? What happened?” Harry asked.

“Luna polyjuiced as McGonagall and went to St Mungo's. She got Davis’ blood, enough-”

“Davis?” Sirius asked. “I thought the boy you were going to use was Archer… something?”

“He is, but Harry reminded us that we needed to be able to differentiate between the two of you and suggested that we call the original Archer Davis Evermond, by his middle name of Davis and you by Archer, we can play that off in future as, Davis was Archer’s muggle brother. Wizards aren’t going to check and most quite probably wouldn’t even know how to check.” Draco answered.

“Oh, right.” Sirius waved in a circular motion. “Keep going.”

“Thank you.” Draco nodded. “Luna got more than enough blood for the ritual and Severus suggested that we do a family tree for him, that if possible we might be able to take some of your blood and extrapolate out, a distant Black ancestor and slide that into the mix as a redundant blood recognition.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“The Black title. We’d like that to pass to Archer.”

“Ehh…” Sirius whined. “Do we have to…?”

“We need something that will enable Archer to stay in the Wizarding world and not be shunted back to the muggle world, come holidays.” Hermione reminded him.

“What did you find?” Harry asked.

“We don’t need to do any of that. Archer Davis Evermond is the son of Marius Black’s granddaughter.” Draco said.

“Ooh…” Harry exclaimed, almost silently.

“Yeah. When Sirius dies, Archer is the next in line for the Black title, anyway. Which means that all Sirius needs to do, as far as the ritual is concerned is accept the invitation into the Evermond and Black families and swear to uphold the House of Black’s Family Laws, as the Evermond line are completely muggle.” Draco added.

“We also think that Sirius should change his Will, slightly. He would have known that Harry is the Lord-Designate for House Potter and cannot accept the Black title, the most he could do, would be to hold it for one of his sons. But if it’s left to the Family Law, Archer is the next anyway, as Black Family Law states that the youngest male that meets the requirements will become Lord and the youngest of age, will be his Seneschal.” Hermione went on.

“Which would be who?” Sirius asked.

Harry grinned. “One young man named Charlie Weasley.”

“Really?” Sirius’ jaw fell.

“Be very glad we’re doing this now and not in two years.” Hermione warned. “Otherwise, it’d be Percy. Two years after that and it’d be George.”

“Yeah, not going there.” Sirius grimaced, he remembered how serious Fred and George **_weren’t_**.

“Bluntly?” Harry commented. “I’d prefer George to Percy. At least Fred and George have some experience, they did run their own business for a few years, before the battle and Fred died.”

“Fred… died…?” Sirius gasped.

“Yeah, but like you and Tonks and Remus, he came back with us. Haven’t the foggiest how, but I really don’t care. I have my Master Healer, my tactician, my researcher and my best fighters with me and that gives me some backup.”

“Fighters?” Remus asked.

“Why would **_you_**  have fighters?” Sirius demanded.

“2002, in the aftermath of the American Twin Towers terrorist attacks, I was asked to form teams to respond to threats, wanna-be Dark Lords, kidnappers, child smugglers, terrorists, that sort of thing. Two teams, one of which I lead, personally.” Harry answered. “We didn’t get called out a lot, thankfully, but we were there when we were needed.”

“Who was in this team?” Tonks asked.

“Draco as healer and sharpshooter, Seamus as demolitions and heavy artillery, Dean as sharpshooter and demolitions, Hermione as planning and sharpshooter, Luna as observations, communications and sharpshooter, Ron as 2IC, tactics and heavy artillery and Neville and I as heavy artillery and infiltration.” Harry answered.

“Huh…” Remus huffed. “How-”

“Later, please. We need to get the Sirius/Archer situation dealt with, then we can bring everyone up to date on what happened and what we hope to avoid. Okay?” Harry cut him off.

“Fine…” Sirius slumped back on the settee. “On with the Archer explanation.”

“Certainly.” Draco replied. “So, Archer is the next in line to the Black title and Charlie Weasley is likely to be his Seneschal. If… you make alterations to your Will, stating that as the next Lord will be under-age and that unless his parents are magical, his Seneschal will also be his magical guardian, that will secure Archer's guardianship, in such a way that not even Dumbledore can object. Do make sure that you stipulate that, according to Black Family Law, you are insisting on a private reading for the Seneschal. Otherwise it’s going to be all over the Prophet.”

“And what do you plan to tell Dumbledore?” Sirius wanted to know.

“I thought…” Hermione gave him a clearly faked, innocent look. “That we might use Archer’s history. His being an orphan and his injuries, to make it seem medically inadvisable to allow him to return to the muggle world. Then push the connection that Remus has to Sirius, as a reason that Remus should also be his muggle guardian, remembering that his magical guardian will be his Seneschal. Either that or leave it to the Seneschal and his legal advisor, to break the news.”

“And Severus, in his closet spy position, can also suggest to Dumbledore, that Lupin having guardianship of both Harry and Archer is possibly going cause favouritism and which in turn will cause a rift between Harry and Lupin.” Draco added.

“And if this all hadn’t been planned in advance, that’s quite likely what would have happened.” McGonagall nodded.

“Instead, we’ll be leading Dumbledore on a wild snidget chase.” Draco grinned.

“Kinda of apt, seeing as we have two of Hogwarts best seekers involved.” Hermione laughed.

“Alright. So… what do I have to do for this ritual and where?” Sirius asked. “And how? I’m… oh gods, I’m over **_thirty... again!_** ” Sirius whined.

“You won’t be for long…” Harry sung.

“What?” Sirius blinked at him.

“The very first step in the lead-up to the ritual is to de-age you, we need you to be the same age as Davis. We’ve had to make a variant on a de-aging potion, instead of de-aging you by so many days, our potion de-ages you to a _**specific**_ age. Then we have to get you into St Mungo's and Davis’ room.” Draco answered.

“I’ll take care of that.” Snape offered. “I’ve a trunk that the Dark Lord had Lucius commission, before he… died. But it was not finished by that Halloween. It’s quite unusual. It has an expanded capacity and while that may not be unusual, it was designed for people smuggling. Meaning that, Black, Granger, Potter and Draco can enter it and I am still able to shrink it.”

“And it’s safe?” Sirius asked, curiously.

“I would not be suggesting my godson be one of those who enter the trunk, if I were not certain of his safety.” Snape answered calmly.

“I commented that I, as Professor McGonagall, would like to bring potions master Snape to see the Evermond child, I reminded them that a fresh set of eyes can often see things, that those involved may miss.” Luna said.

“That’s brilliant!” Draco yelled. “We could do the ritual in the trunk. Place the trunk right up against Davis’ bed, but Sirius would still be inside the trunk, so the hospital’s wards wouldn’t register anyone other than Snape and McGonagall, as being in the room. Then we swap the Davis and Archer over, at exactly the same time. Both can be levitated through the trunk’s opening, one above the other.”

“Woo-hoo!”

“Yay!”

“Yes!” The cheers came from different people and often more than one.

“The actual ritual is quite simple.” Draco continued. “We lay you down on a flat surface, once you’ve been de-aged that is, within arm’s reach of Davis. Then we inject the ritual potion into your bloodstream. We wait until it starts to take effect and one person begins a binding spell, it binds the potion to your core. In the middle of that binding spell a second person begins a second spell, it combines a binding spell, a blood recognition spell, a blood adoption spell and a claim of heir oath. During that second spell, you will be asked to give your own oath.”

“What type of oath?” Sirius was wary of blindly giving an oath.

“It basically says that.. from that moment on you will be known as… whatever name you choose, just make sure that your first name is Archer and your middle name starts with ‘D’… a member of Houses… whichever ones you choose… and that you will abide by their Family Laws and will uphold the appropriate motto’s. That’s it.” Hermione answered.

“It does have to be couched in a more formal manner, you are giving Lady Magic you oath, after all.” Draco warned, giving Hermione a sideways look.

“I can do that.” Sirius nodded a few times. “Then what?”

“Then we’ll inject you with some more of Davis’ blood, you need to have sufficient residue from the crush toxins, to not cause suspicion. We can’t do anything to avoid that. After that, we’ll swap the two of you over and leave. McGonagall will notify Dumbledore and Pomfrey of ‘your’ improvement and suggest that, as Mother is a qualified child healer, she be asked to attend, if Hogwarts can get ‘Archer’ released into the care of Hogwarts' hospital.” Draco replied.

“Which will get me to Hogwarts.” Sirius nodded.

“Exactly. Then it’s a case of making your recovery as fast as possible, but limiting the knowledge of that recovery to those of our contingent.” Draco gestured to those gathered.

“Then, about the middle of October, we have Harry notified that the Dursley's have left for America and that they’ve had Remus named as Harry’s guardian.” Hermione joined in.

“And I assume that it is at this point, that I would point out Archer’s heritage to Dumbledore and suggest Lupin as his muggle guardian, while implying that this would likely cause a rift between Potter and Lupin?” Snape asked.

“Probably. And… what if McGonagall was to say to someone, or maybe just to herself, where Dumbledore could hear her, that she hoped that Snape wasn’t Harry’s magical guardian as the arguments between the Snape and Remus would see that nothing was decided.” Harry added.

“You know, pup? There are times you are so like your Mother, it's friggin’ scary.” Sirius looked at him with an anxious expression.

“Indeed.” Snape agreed, before blinking confusion. “Did I just agree with Black?” The look of horror on his face was comical, but no one was game to laugh at him. Not the dreaded potions bat of the dungeons.

“Moving right along…” Harry quickly put in. “Sirius? Are you in or not?”

“I want to see this Davis’ family tree, I need to know what I’m getting myself into, pup.”

Draco was the one to hand the escapee a rolled up sheet of parchment. Sirius unrolled it and studied it, his eyes darting from one name to another. Eventually, he rolled it up and gave it back to Draco.

“His Father’s line are muggles, back for the five generations that the tree covers, so no need for swearing of allegiance there. His Mother? That’s a different story. Marius Black was a squib and disowned for it. He married another squib from the McKinnon family making his daughter a pure-blood squib. She married a muggle, Brandon Gleeson, they had one daughter, who married Matthew Evermond. They had two sons, Archer, born in April 1980 and Zion, born in November 1983. Somehow… the tree doesn’t say… the others were killed in 1985 and Archer went to an orphanage.” Sirius said. “There are no living relatives, excluding myself, the Tonks family and the Malfoys. He’s been completely alone.”

“Not anymore, Pads.” Remus said. “He’s got us, now.” Remus gestured to those in the room.

“He does.” Harry agreed. 

“What going to happen to him? Once we swap places?” Sirius looked to Draco to answer.

“Severus has brewed a potion that will ease his pain and let him pass peacefully. Then we’ll place him under a stasis until the Yule holidays, we’ll take him home, to whichever home we decide and we’ll bury him as your twin brother, Davis. He'll never be forgotten, we'll make sure of it."

“I can get behind that. Then?”

“Then we’ll destroy Voldy.” Draco shrugged.

“Actually…” Harry said. “We’ll probably already have destroyed Voldy by that point and be working on what to do about Dumbledore in the long brew.”

“Alright. I’m in. Let’s do it.” Sirius shook his head at himself.

Snape drew a small flat box from his pocket and tapped a carved symbol to enlarge it. Once it was tall enough for an adult to walk into, he gestured to it’s entrance.

“Black, Potter, Lovegood, Granger, Draco? Get in.” Snape paused. “Where are the other two?”

“Upstairs, asleep. Draco if you set up for the ritual? Sirius, get your new Will out of the way, but don't forget to backdate it. I’ll fetch Dean and Seamus.” Harry didn’t wait, he just bounded away.

“Lupin, Miss Ton- Mrs Lupin, if you wish to attend, that’s your only option.” Snape started, only to correct himself halfway through Tonks' name.

By the time Harry returned with two sleepy boys, Snape and McGonagall were the only ones left in the room.

“In, Potter.” Snape was sharp, but there was no animosity in his voice, just urgency.

“Going.” Harry didn’t even slow down as he crossed the room, dragging Seamus and Dean after him into the trunk.

A large comfortable space, with a heavy timber floor and papered walls, Harry was surprised to find it light and airy. Spying a pile of cushions in a back corner of the room, he continued to drag the two other boys, until he’d reached it. Then he shoved them and both boys collapsed down onto the cushions and were soon asleep.

“That’s sweet.” Tonks laughed, from where she stood near Sirius and Remus, while Sirius wrote using a fancy old writing desk.

“Those two have been a couple since the middle of fifth year. Never married, Dean’s family are Anglican and Seamus’ are Catholic, not a good mix. Not that it really matters, both of them are pagan, like the rest of us.” Harry grinned.

“I’m closing the trunk now.” Snape warned. “It shall a few minutes to gain access to Davis’ room, perhaps as long as half an hour before I’m able to re-open the trunk.”

“We’re not going anywhere.” At Sirius’ reply, Harry’s grin grew.

The door of the trunk swung closed and everyone inside looked at each other.

“Now, what?” Tonks asked.

“Now, Sirius finishes his Will, then goes and has a shower and the rest of us come away from the door area and let Hermione and Draco work.” Luna ordered, pointed out a door to Sirius and headed in the direction of the cushions. “I’m going to get some sleep. Wake me, when I’m needed.”

“Night, Sprite.” Harry waved and watched as she joined Seamus and Dean, cuddling into Seamus’ back, as Dean’s arm stretched over and tucker her closer.

“Are they all together?” Remus asked, looking at the sleeping trio before leading his wife over to a second pile of cushions and settling with his back against the wall, Tonks in his arms.

“Nah, Luna and Ron are on-again-off-again’s. Dean and Seamus just know Luna doesn’t like to sleep alone all that much. This first week at Hogwarts, she’d probably end up sleeping with Hermione most nights. We're not sure why, but Draco thinks it might stem from unstable Family Magics.” Harry answered, leaning against the wall near Sirius.

“Any other couples?” Sirius asked, laying the quill down. He wanted that shower, but his curiosity was driving him.

“Hmm… let me see… Seamus and Dean. Luna and Ron. Draco and Mione. George and Angelina. Remus and Tonks. Bill and Fleur. Neville had an on-again-off-again relationship with Hannah Abbott. That’s about it.” Harry replied.

“Oh right. I… Did you say... Remus and _**Tonks?**_ My baby cousin, Tonks? That Tonks?” Sirius pointed across the room at his pink haired cousin.

“Yep. He was in denial for about a year after the DoM. Then something happened, we took bets on it, but never found out, exactly what it was.” Harry tilted his head in thought, then called out. “Oi, Tonksy? How’d you finally trap the wolf?”

Tonks looked over at Harry and laughed as Remus went bright red.

“I got him drunk and took advantage, of course. He can’t handle muggle soda, goes into a sugar-coma every time.” She grinned wickedly. “When he’s out like that, he’s a cuddle-puppy.”

Remus buried his head in Tonks’ hair and whined. Sirius’ brows rose, before his grin matched Tonks’.

“Get yourself some really good coverture chocolate and make some mousse, he’ll do almost anything for chocolate mousse.”

“Sirius!” Remus’s head popped up and squawked at his fellow Marauder.

“Yes, Remus?” Sirius answered innocently.

“Want me to tell your secrets, Padfoot?” The werewolf growled.

“I can be tempted into almost anything with a pound of orange jelly babies.” Sirius offered.

Remus just gaped at him.

“What? I’m going to be made into someone else tonight, Remus, the likelihood of me having the same tastes in food is almost non-existent. So, sure, go ahead. Orange jelly babies were my greatest weakness, though.” Said Sirius, who almost ran for the bathroom and it’s promised shower. Anything to get out of reach of Remus’ retaliation.

Harry watched the him and laughed. He left Sirius to his shower and watched Remus and Tonks to argue between quietly, before wandering over to join Hermione and Draco. Some time later Sirius emerged from the bathroom, wearing a simple black day robe, that reached to jut below the knee and left his lower legs and feet bare, his skin almost glowing pink, he’d scrubbed it so hard. Harry looked up and waved to Sirius to join them. He stayed with them, chatting and doing odd things, as and when they told him to, until the trunk’s door swung open again.

“Draco? I’ve managed to get fifteen minutes alone with Davis.” Was what Snape greeted them with. “Be grateful the healer on duty is a ‘Puff. She feels bad for the boy and is prepared to accept even my help. There’s only fifteen minutes before the next shift comes in and this needs to be done by then, so that I may call and advise of a change in his condition.”

“Right, we’re on it. Keep the trunk shrunk and put it on the bed. If possible, push Davis’ hand against the opening. Sirius, over here. Lie down there.” Draco gave out orders. “Harry? When Mione gets to ‘Family Laws’, you give Sirius the nod. Sirius, have you thought about your Oaths?”

“I have. Here” He handed Draco a hastily conjured sheet of notepaper, covered in scribbled lines and lay down where Hermione pointed.

Draco read through it and hummed. “Yeah, that should work. Adding the limitations and invoking Lady Magic in those limitations is a smart move.” He turned back to the trunk opening. “We’re ready to go, Sev.”

“Then go. We’re running out of time.” Snape snapped back.

“Right.” Draco looked at Sirius. “Last chance to back out.”

“Do it.” Sirius answered.

“De-aging potion.” Draco handed over a phial of pale purple liquid.

“Bottoms up.” Sirius swallowed it down in one mouthful and lay back as the years ran away from him.

It was startling for Harry to watch. He knew that Sirius was an attractive man, but watching the years run backwards and seeing Sirius go from his Azkaban drained looks to his Auror days, made him raise a brow. The man was stunning. As the athleticism gave way to the gangliness of his teens and then to immaturity of childhood, Harry wondered how much the ritual was going to change Sirius’ body and looks. A small part of him hoped that Davis would have enough Black blood to allow Siri- Archer to still resemble the beautiful man, he had been. A stay thought of 'the girls of Hogwarts are going to fight over him', flitted through his head, before he forced his thoughts back to the situation at hand.

“Ready for the next bit?” Draco asked and Sirius just nodded. Draco held a syringe-phial near Sirius’ neck and tapped it against his jugular. Within ten seconds the phial was empty.

“Harry? Remember, Sirius has to start his Oath when Hermione reaches ‘Family Laws’ bit.” Draco’s voice cut through Harry’s daydreaming.

“Right. Family Laws.” Harry repeated, dragging his mind back to the ritual.

Draco and Hermione breathed deeply and in sync with each other. At least until Sirius’s skin started to move.

Draco stood at Sirius’ head and began to chant the spells used to set the physical changes that were powering through Sirius’ body. Even the muscles in his arms and legs warped and twisted inside his robes.

Draco nodded and Hermione’s voice joined his, chanting a completely different set of spells, the dissonance between the two cadences, jarring. Harry forced himself to keep his attention on Hermione, he wasn’t going to stuff this up for Sirius. When Hermione held up a hand and folded her fingers down one by one, Harry was ready. As she reached the bit about ‘Family Laws’, he held the paper where Sirius could read it and touched the other boy’s face, just enough to get his attention. He pointed to the paper and nodded, pressing a wand into Sirius’ hand.

“Lady Magic, hear my words, I beg of you. From this moment forward I shall be known as Archer Darian Evermond, a member of Houses Black, McKinnon and Evermond, I shall abide by the Family Laws set out by my Houses and will uphold their motto’s to the best of my ability, so long as it shall be to the betterment of Lady Magic, my Houses and of the Wizarding world. As I say, so do I swear. So be it!” Sirius was surrounded by bright golden light that swirled and shimmered, dancing along his limbs and instead of fading it was absorbed into his skin, making him glow like a golden patronus. It took almost as long to fade as it had taken Sirius to give the Oath, but fade it did.

“Ow…” The new Archer Evermond moaned. “That hurt…” The moan became a whine.

“Well, I’ve good and bad new for you.” Draco offered.

“Eh?” Archer grunted.

“I’m going to inject you with some of Davis’ blood, it’ll make the pain go away, but it will also make you really tired and a bit confused.” Draco answered.

“Which is why Harry is going to do the same Fidelius type spell over you that he did over the rat.” Hermione added.

“Minus the bit that says you won’t know who you are, you just won’t be able to tell anyone.” Harry warned and lifted his wand. “Ready?”

Siri-, no… he was Archer now, looked at Harry. “Can you make it so that I think of myself as Archer, even though I was Sirius?” He sounded so young!

“Yep.” Harry nodded.

“Do it.”

Harry didn’t answer he just began to chant. This wasn’t quite the same as what he’d cast outside Sirius’ cell. This had stronger overtones of a Fidelius to it, with minor tones of an obliviate reversal. Archer’s expression went even more confused and blank than it had been.

“Sorry, mate, had to block out what you learnt at Hogwarts. Just until we get you into the dorms.” Harry apologised and nodded to Draco.

“Here.” The blonde handed Archer a phial. “This will simulate the symptoms of someone coming out of the condition Davis has been in for the last week.” He knelt and tapped the stopper of a second phial against Archer’s neck. “And this has enough of the crush toxins to leave a residue, but not enough to be detrimental to you in the long run.” He stood and nodded to Hermione. “Sev? We’re ready for the exchange. Can you place the trunk on the floor and enlarge it please? Mione and I have the exchange.”

“Of course, Draco.” Those inside the trunk heard Snape’s response and through the trunk’s opening, they saw the view move and change perspective. “Ready.”

“Mione you take Archer, on the hinge-side, while I’ll get Davis on the latch-side.” Draco stepped to one side and gestured genteelly to Hermione towards the other. The bushy haired young girl curtsied in response and stood opposite him.

“On three.” She smiled as she spoke. “One… Two… Three… _[Mobilicorpus](medical%20levitation%20charm)_ … and heads to the trunk. Shoulders. Chest. Waist. Hips. Knees. Ankles. Feet. And done.” She beamed.

“Excellent.” Snape looked through the trunk’s opening. “I’m going to shrink the trunk and put it in my pocket. Shall I leave it open or would you prefer a pensieve viewing later? Remembering that if the trunk is open, you must all remain silent.”

Draco and Harry exchanged looks, before Draco grimaced. “I’d suggest pensieve viewing. Some people are going to want to watch all the night’s actions.”

“That is true.” Harry agreed. “We’ll take option two, please, Snape.”

“Very well. We shall speak at Hogwarts.” Snape acknowledged, closing the trunk.


	5. Chapter 5

_“Excellent.” Snape looked through the trunk’s opening. “I’m going to shrink the trunk and put it in my pocket. Shall I leave it open or would you prefer a pensieve viewing later? Remembering that if the trunk is open, you must all remain silent.”_

_Draco and Harry exchanged looks, before Draco grimaced. “I’d suggest pensieve viewing. Some people are going to want to watch all the night’s actions.”_

_“That is true.” Harry agreed. “We’ll take option two, please, Snape.”_

_“Very well. We shall speak at Hogwarts.” Snape acknowledged, closing the trunk._

 

Some time later, but also considerably earlier, thanks to Uncle Algie’s time turners, they achieved a great deal in the time they had and were back shortly after eleven-thirty on the 1st of September. The time travellers and Professor Snape watched as the last memory faded from the projection pensieve. For roughly three seconds the room was silent. Then the cheering and clapping began. This continued for some minutes, but one by one they fell silent. And one by one, they turned to Harry.

“So, Potter? What next?” Snape spoke for them all. “Archer and Davis are both secure. Archer will be transferred to Hogwarts sometime in the next few days. What is the next item on your agenda?”

“I’d like Archer up to full health in as little time as possible, but that has to wait until he’s in the dorms. We’ve no way of hiding it, otherwise.”

“Agreed. I have some potion recipes that will help his condition and a few that will give the impression of it not improving beyond expectations, the former can be used any time, the later I suggest using sparingly, only when Pomfrey is involved.” Snape offered. “I would suggest including her, but Dumbledore has made sure her mental shields are non existent.”

“Yeah, figured that.” Harry muttered. “And thanks for the potions, we’ll take you up on them. Also Draco? The  _[Verum lupus](True%20Wolf) _potion? How soon can we get that?”

“Just a sec...” The blonde boy replied and began digging in a pocket that was obviously expanded. “Here we go.” He held up a phial. “Oops, wrong potion. Hold on.” And dug about in his pocket again. “Ah, got it.” He handed over a large phial of bright silvery-green liquid, with a shrunken quill strapped to the phial. “Just need to add Professor Lupin’s blood and unshrink the quill.”

“Brilliant. Would you see to that before we go?” Harry placed the phial on the table in front of Remus and Tonks.

“Uh, Harry...?” Remus asked.

“Oh, right, sorry.” Harry grimaced. “It’s a variant of  _[sanguinem maledtica](blood%20curses), _repurposed to be a blood-borne-curse alteration potion, predominantly used on werewolves, hence the name ' _[Verum lupus](True%20Wolf)'_. You add your blood to the potion, wait two minutes, drink half and tip the rest onto a parchment and the potion will write out all blood-borne curses. Then you use the quill, which is a modified [Black Quill](AKA%20blood%20quills) to erase the ‘were’ part of the words werewolf and insert a type of natural wolf. Given your colouring, I’d suggest the Eurasian Wolf or ' _Canis Lupus Lupus'_. The [Black Quill](AKA%20blood%20quills) will write the changes into your core as you make them. Come your next full moon, you’ll still shift, but this time into the suggested form and from that point on, the suggested form becomes an Animagus form.”

“You will still be forced to shift each full moon.” Draco added. “But you won’t have to _**stay**_ shifted, you’ll be able to use the Animagus transformation and shift back to human shape within a few moments and you will retain your mental faculties just as any other Animagus does. Oh, and you won’t be infectious anymore either.” 

Remus gasped. “You…? How…? Who… who did it?”

“Actually the potion itself had been around for decades, but no one ever connected it to a blood quill and attempted to change a curse.” Hermione lectured. “It wasn’t until the Wizengamot realised that children with lycanthropy were still children and our numbers were so low, that **_any_**  children were a valuable commodity, that St Mungo's got involved. It was Ron that cracked it, Harry, Ron and their trainees were clearing out Umbridge’s house and found her stash of Black Quills, Ron’s trainee made a throw-away comment about Black Quills not having any redeeming features and of course, Ron  ** _had_**  to find one. The next day they were in St Mungo's watching as a child was being tested with the  _[sanguinem maledtica](blood%20curses) _potion and he had one of his completely unconnected jumps of mental brilliance.” In his seat across the table, Ron yelled ‘oi!’ at her. “Oh do be quiet, Ronald.” She chided the redhead. “And he asked what would happen if a Black Quill rewrote a person’s curses? That set St Mungo's in a tizz. It took them less than twelve hours to conduct some experiments and work it out. It’s completely safe, as long as you write correctly. They had a little more issue with infants, but eventually they worked out that by closing a baby’s hand around a quill and having an adult, wearing dragon-hide gloves, hold the child’s hand, the adult can direct the quill.”

“And as Black quills are not intent based, but literal objects, and dragon-hide is impervious to magic, the quill can only connect to the child’s blood and magic.” Remus finished in an ‘of course, that’s how it’s done’, tone.

“Yep.” Harry grinned brightly.

“And how long does it take?” Tonks asked. “Now that I know that Remus is back and my parents know about us, I’d kind of like some time with my husband.”

Harry snickered, but answered. “It kind of depends on how many curses there are in his blood and how he wants to deal with them. The potion can only be used once a year, so think carefully.”

“We will.” Remus answered.

“Then go for it. Conjure up the parchment and go for it.” Harry nodded to the phial, watched as Tonks unstoppered it and held it out for Remus, who had his wand out to cut his finger. Harry turned back to the table. “Right. After we get Archer into the dorms and up duelling health, the next thing to do is… Actually, hold that…” Harry hummed, a twisted expression on his face. “I was going to say after Archer is Voldy, but… it’s not. Next is getting rid of Snape and Lucius’ DarkMarks. I can get Draco to pop me over to Malfoy manor Monday or Tuesday night and deal with Lucius’, but Snape’s has to be done a little more subtly. He’s going to be out for three days. And we need to do his in public, preferably in class.”

“Potter suggested something that would render me unconscious and induce tremors. He claimed it to be exceptionally painful.” Snape added.

“It is.” Draco rubbed his left arm in remembered pain. “It was worse than Riddle’s Cruciatus, Severus, far worse, but thankfully it lasts only a few seconds. I agree with Harry, unconscious is definitely the way to go, I’d have done so, if we’d known.”

“Hmm… Calming Draught… but instead of bat wing-hair, bat ear-hair would make render me unconscious, but… muscle tremors needs… maybe Dandelion root instead of daisy root. Draco, you and I will need to confer tomorrow evening.” Snape mused.

“Of course, Sev.” Draco agreed. “It’ll have to be me, Hermione, Neville or Harry, that do the actual brewing, though.”

“Not me.” Harry said. “I can brew to a recipe, without an issue, but when it comes to precision from memory, it’s gotta be Draco, Hermione or Nev.”

“Me.” Neville raised a hand. “I can use it as an excuse for suddenly paying attention and any rapid improvement.”

“Yes, that would be believable. Lady Longbottom has already expressed doubts to the Headmaster of your being here. By the time I will have ‘recovered’ enough to be able to start an investigation, you will have had time to ‘improve’. Very well, you will meet with Draco and myself to perfect this new potion. Once we have if perfected, we’ll meet again and decide on a time to act.” Snape directed.

“Yes, Professor.” Neville agreed.

“Good, once Malfoy and Snape’s DarkMarks are gone, we can concentrate on Voldy. That will involve a few out of school excursions. The Diary, as we know in in Malfoy manor. The-”

“Nope, I have it in a containment pouch in my trunk, it, the locket and the cup.” Draco cut in. “I got Mother and Father involved, after finding out I wasn't alone in this mess and Mother ordered the Black’s elf, Kreacher to fetch them and bring them to me.”

Harry blinked. “O-kay, then. The Diary we have. The Ring is in the ruins of the Gaunt shack and we’ll have to retrieve it. The Cup we have. The Locket we have. The Diadem was here in the Room and we now have it." He pointed to the fabric-wrapped bundle on the table, beside the pensieve. "Draco, please add it to your pouch. The snake, Nagini, won’t be made until 1994. Quirrell is downstairs in the DADA rooms and... I’m sitting here.”

“And how do we remove a Horcruxe from a living being?” Snape asked, a slight frown on his face.

“There’s a ritual that will call pieces of the soul together. It’s not hard, apparently. Bill went on a wild rant at Dumbledore’s portrait, after we told the family why Harry’d gone into the forest to face Voldy, alone. Apparently this ritual is simple, as long as you have a larger piece of the soul than the piece you’re summoning.” Ron told them. “Um… that’s all I can remember, cause I joined Bill and started cursing Dumbledore’ portrait.” He winced, but the other just nodded.

“If you have a container holding a large piece of the soul, you can summon smaller pieces to it, they join with the larger piece, but in the right container, it’s basically neutralised.” Hermione quickly conjured a piece of parchment and began making notes. “We have the Diary, that’s 50% of his soul, the rest are all smaller pieces, even if we don’t know the exact order of creation. Using the ritual with the Diary as the base, we can remove the Horcruxe from Harry, as the first to be summoned. That will give us approximately 51.56%, larger than all the others put together, which will allow the Diary to be the primary container. Then on to the others.”

"It does require a seven person coven, though." Luna added. "But there's more than seven of us, so we can choose the most appropriate to take part."

“And how will we know when we have them all?” Remus asked, laying down the Black Quill.

“Finished?” Harry asked.

“I think so.” Remus said.

“How can we be certain?” Tonks asked at the same time.

“Do the standard blood-borne curse test.” Draco answered and skidded a smaller phial across the table. “Just add you blood and pour it onto the parchment, this time. No drinking required.” He grinned as Remus once again cut his finger.

“As for the Horcruxes, the container will glow once the soul is complete or shimmer if there are no other pieces to be summoned.” Hermione answered Remus’ first question.

“What’s the difference?” Tonks asked, turning from watching Remus’ blood fall into the phial, to Hermione.

“If all the pieces are out there and we summon them, once we have all of them, the Diary will glow. If one or more have already been destroyed, once we have summoned all that we can, the Diary will shimmer, but not quite glow.” Hermione answered.

“And Dumbledore?” Snape asked.

“I would like to wait until Archer can join and have some input and Davis is interred.” Harry informed them. “The twins and my Raiders have a few ideas, but we won’t be putting anything into effect, until Archer can join us to watch the fun.”

All those around the table thought about that and nodded.

“Having said that… Any ideas are gratefully accepted, the more ideas we have, the more to choose from, the more damage we can inflict. I’ll order in some journals and Hermione will link them together. Any ideas, jot them down in the journal and we’ll meet once a week to discuss them.” Harry offered.

A round of agreements came.

“And what of us?” Tonks asked. “If Dumbledore’s mail diversion is still in place, we can’t write to you.”

“Not that it matters, we just go around. The journals will be linked, so you can write to us at any time.” Hermione added.

“Oh, hadn’t thought of that. Thanks.” Tonks grimaced.

“What are you going to do about the diversion? Are you going to do something about the diversion?” Remus asked.

“I’m going to leave it until my guardianship is transferred. You can throw a wobbly about it, demand it be removed and hire Andromeda to deal with the backlog and ongoing, not even Dumbledore is going to object to that.” Harry answered.

“Ooh… you are such a snake.” Tonks shook her head.

“Uh, yeah… and?” Harry gave her a questioning look. “Your point is… what?”

Everyone at the table laughed.

“Alright, alright. Enough banter. Students have classes in the morning. Mrs Lupin, I understand that you have started Auror training? I’m certain that you must also have classes or lectures to attend, come morning. And Lupin? You have to find a house suitable to house yourself and two… boys…” Snape cut in.

“Correct.” Remus nodded. “And I have a number of meetings with the muggle child services, to get Harry’s guardianship transferred. Finances… could be a bit tight, initially, but I’ll manage.”

“I got that sorted, Remus.” Harry told the werewolf. “If McGonagall takes the others back to the dorms? You, Tonks, Snape and I will see to it.” He held up a hand. “Anything in the Room of Lost Things is fair game. There’s nothing in the Room that belongs to any current student, that’s kept separate, in case the student asks about it. Once a new school years starts and a student doesn’t attend, anything of theirs that is unclaimed, goes into the Room of Lost Things.”

“It should really be called the Room of Lost, Abandoned or Discarded Things.” Hermione added.

“There is a notice in each dorm, to remind students that if they loose something, they can ask their head of house to have the elves locate said item. It does happen, but rarely.” McGonagall agreed.

“Indeed. I have had cause to ask the house-elves to procure items for incoming first years, items that their families weren’t aware that their children should have. I was aware that such items came from the lost and found room, but I was not aware that it was available to any who wish to claim an item.” Snape added.

“It is.” McGonagall replied. “I’ve had the head elf inform me of a student asking for items and the only reason the elf was concerned, was the fact that the requested items were not suitable for students. I, of course, informed the elf that the request was to be refused and it was then changed from, ask a head of house or an elf, to ask a head of house.”

“I see.” Snape rocked his head a little as he thought about that. “That does make more sense.”

“It does.” McGonagall agreed.

“So, plundering the Room? How long do you anticipate that to take, Potter?” Snape tilted his head in question.

“Maybe an hour? Two at most.” Harry answered.

“We’ve done it before, Professor Snape, Harry knows the order of attack to get it done in the least amount of time.” Neville added. "And we don't have to do it all tonight, we can always go back and have a second go at it."

“Wouldn’t surprise me if he can get it done in under the hour.” Ron huffed.

“I see.” Snape raised a brow. “Then why are we required?”

“Me to do it. You, to get me back to the tower, without an after-curfew detention. Remus, because he’ll have to take some of it with him. Tonks, because I can’t see her leaving Remus just yet.” Harry recited.

“Ah… Fair enough.” Snape nodded. “Very well. Let’s get to it, morning is coming and I would like **_some_**  sleep tonight.”

“Take a time turner, Snape. You know what time McGonagall called you to the tower, go back to five minutes later.” Harry sighed and shook his head.

Snape jolted. “I had not considered that. Thank you for reminding me, Potter. I shall do so. But that still does not change the fact that we have been awake for quite a number of hours more than recommended. The less time this takes, the better.” He stood and waited while the others hastily did the same, then not quite so gently chivvied them from the room. “Good evening, Minerva, ladies, gentlemen.” He said in a clear dismissal.

“Good night, Severus.” Minerva nodded.

“Good night, Professor.” The rest said, one after another.

It took bare seconds and the corridor was empty, excluding the four Room raiders.

“Potter? You are in charge.” Snape managed to withhold his sneer.

“Thank you, Professor. If the three of you could stand over there?” Harry pointed to the far side of the corridor. “The Room registers the mental desires of the person closest to it.”

Once the three had moved, Harry closed the door and waited for it to fade away, before beginning to pace. Back and forth and back again. A new doorframe faded into being, a plainer set of double doors in a wide and tall arch. The locks clicked and the doors cracked open.

“Here we go.” Harry gave them a slightly crazed grin and dived through the door.

Snape and Remus exchanged alarmed looks and hurried after the boy, Tonks on their heels. The sight that met their eyes was astonishing, piles and piles of… stuff. Very few things were clearly identifiable, simply because there was so much and the eyes of those that looked on those piles, were drawn from one pile to another, scarcely able to focus long enough to register what they saw.

“Potter?” Snape called out, suddenly afraid for his friend’s son.

“Here.” Harry waved from where he stood, just a few feet to their left.

“Order of action? That is what Mr Finnigan asked earlier, was it not?” Snape was the first to move in Harry’s direction.

“It was. And first is trunks. Probably best to have just one person summon all the trunks and then the rest of us can begin to empty them.” Harry answered. “Once that’s done, we can all work on summoning different things.”

“As you say, Potter, trunks first. Perhaps you would be so kind as to demostrate the methodology required for summoning within this Room?” Snape’s formal manner disguised the question, or rather the fact that he was saying, ‘I don’t know how this room works, show me’.

“Sure.” Harry snapped a wand into his hand. “ _Accio_  all trunks.”

Nothing happened immediately and Snape’s brow rose in question and after a few seconds he opened his mouth to speak, but paused at Harry’s raised hand.

“Wait for it, wait for it…” The boy said, earning himself a glare from the potions master.

A glare that faded as a rumble sounded and trunks began to slide out of the piles and form a neat wall of trunks in front of Harry.

“Whoa…” Tonks gasped.

“Time to empty. Levitate a trunk and create a new pile, keep adding to it until either we run out of trunks or the pile is as big as the others, in which case, start a new pile.” Harry gave a grin. “Rinse, lather and repeat. As the saying goes.” He flicked his wand and a trunk rose. “Don’t bother sorting, some of that will happen in the summoning and the rest we can do anytime.”

For the next ten minutes, the piles in the Room grew.

“Now, Remus? You get ‘muggle money in current circulation. Tonks? ‘Wizarding money in current circulation. Snape? Books, please.” Harry frowned. “Better alter that. ‘Muggle money in current circulation without magic applied.’ And… ‘Wizarding money with no magic other than standard.’ And… ‘Books with no harmful or detrimental magics applied.’ I think that would be more suitable. We can look at the rest later. Bill trained Ron, Nev and I enough that we should be able to deal with most of it.”

“Harry? What am I supposed to do with all this cash? I can’t use it to buy a house in the muggle world.” Remus objected.

“You don’t need to. Put it in Gringotts. I’ll give you a letter to give to Snapjaw, my account manager. He’ll see that your bank records are impeccable, the muggles won’t have a problem. And I already bought a house. I-”

“You what? When? Why?” Remus demanded.

“Cause I was planning to do a disappearing act myself, at the end of the school year. But then Uncle Vernon brought up the transfer deal and that changed lots of things. Actually… Not being the only person to travel, changed lots of things, most of my plans are… if not obsolete, then they need major alterations to accommodate you lot and the rest of the Raiders.”

“Raiders?” Snape asked.

“My team, that’s our call sign for the Ministry.” Harry answered.

“Ah… I see.” The potions master nodded in understanding.

“Yeah.” Harry nodded, too.

“If we’re summoning money and books, what about you?” Tonks asked.

“I’ll get all the containers that hold money, gold or gems, the gold bullion, gems and jewellery. Untainted, of course.” Harry answered. "We can look to doing the rest, at a later time."

“Oh, right…” Tonks shook her head.

“Let’s get this done, I’m running low on energy, here.” Harry warned.

“As long as I don’t have to carry you back to Gryffindor tower.” Snape countered.

“Nope, I can last that long, but not much longer.”

 

The morning of 2nd of September came way too early for the Raiders, but face it they had to. Draco and Harry surreptitiously handed out watered-down Pepper-Up potions to the twins and the firsties and hoped that would be enough to get them through the morning. Draco had suggested that they all go to the Room at lunch and time-turn back to dawn and catch up on some sleep. An idea that was rapturously greeted by the tired students.

As they filled their plates, they cast sidelong glances at McGonagall and Snape, up at the staff table. When the four heads of house handed out their students’ timetables and retreated back to the table, without dismissing the students, the travellers knew something else was coming. They all hoped it was Archer, or at least the news that he would be joining them soon.

Dumbledore stood and tapped his goblet.

“Your attention, please. I have an unexpected, but pleasing announcement to make.” The Headmaster waited until the students had settled back onto their benches. “Thank you. Yesterday evening, after settling her lions into their dorms, Professor McGonagall visited St Mungo's, in her position of Deputy Headmistress. The reason for the visit was to check on the condition of a prospective first year student, Mr Archer Evermond, who was unable to attend the Sorting and feast last night. St Mungo's had warned us, that the Mr Evermond was suffering from injuries received in a building collapse in the muggle world, I’m told that a cliff-face gave way and crushed the building. He was badly injured and was not expected to live, but Professor McGonagall suggested that our resident potions Master be summoned, as an independent set of eyes to assess the boy and this the healers readily welcomed. Professor Snape was able to examine the lad and determine that physically, most of his injuries had been treated, all that remained were a chemical imbalance and the fact that Mr Evermond had shut himself in his own mind, using an untrained variant of occlumency, to escape the pain that his injuries caused. Professor Snape was able to use Legilimency and communicate with the boy, bringing him the knowledge that his injuries had been treated and that his pain levels should low enough for potions to control. While the Mr Evermond is not yet well, St Mungo's have agreed to release him to Hogwarts, on the condition that we provide a specialist-trained child healer. Lady Narcissa Malfoy has offered her services and will be residing in the hospital wing’s guest quarters, until such time as Mr Evermond is reassessed and released by St Mungo's. After which, she will continue to attend our hospital on a daily basis to provide support to our own Madam Pomfrey, who wishes to attend a few advanced training courses with St Mungo's.” He waited while the students burst into whispered conversations. “Excuse me…” The students quickly quietened. “Thank you. Mr Evermond’s condition is such that he was unable to take part in a traditional Sorting, but Sorted he must be. The four heads of house and two members of Hogwarts’ Board of Governors joined me in witnessing Mr Evermond’s Sorting this morning. He is to join the other first years in Gryffindor. Lady Malfoy and Madam Pomfrey suggest that the Gryffindor first year boys welcome Mr Evermond and encourage them to visit him in the hospital wing.”

The Raiders and the twins all sighed in relief and Draco was heard to mutter, “that happened faster than I expected.”

“Which raises another issue.” McGonagall stood at Dumbledore’s side. “You are all excused from first class this morning as meetings are to be held in each house. Let me state that no one is in trouble, these are not disciplinary meetings, merely to clarify housekeeping situations. Gryffindors, I would like a house meeting in our common room in fifteen minutes.” She informed them primly.

“Slytherin house? We shall be doing the same in twenty minutes.” Snape’s silky voice added.

“Ravenclaws? I expect you all in our common room, too.” Tiny Professor Flitwick chirped.

“And Badgers? Same for you.” The motherly Professor Sprout joined in.

 

Up in the Gryffindor common room, the students sat wherever they could. The Raiders and the twins all received odd looks, they all sat on one sofa, Harry and Neville one on each sofa-arm, Fred and George on the upright back, their feet tucked against the two boys, while Seamus sat on Dean’s lad, Hermione on Draco’s and Luna on Ron’s. The students may have looked at them oddly, but Professor McGonagall didn’t even blink.

“Let me start by saying, it has been a number of years since we have been forced to do this. Moving students is never something we take lightly, I prefer my lions to remain in the one space for the entirety of their time here, but unfortunately we are left with little choice. Numbers indicate that something must be done and done immediately.” She looked to a sheet of parchment in her hands. “Ladies first, I think… Seventh years? There are six of you in a room suited to six students, however, taking into account that this is your NEWTs year and that you may find privacy for studying to be a benefit, I would like you to move from the Dittany suite to the Star-thistle Suite, there you’ll be able to have private rooms and share a central sitting room. This is a rare privilege and I expect you to behave accordingly. That means that third years will have to move, too, however you will be moving into the Goosegrass suite while the second years will move to the Dittany suite. First, fourth, fifth and sixth years will remain as they are. Those moving, have one hour to settle into their new rooms. Those staying in their current rooms, may make your way to rooms and fetch the books needed for your day’s classes. Sixth years, please see that no one gets lost. Ladies, you are dismissed.” McGonagall waited for the female students to vacate the common room before continuing.

“Gentlemen. Second and sixth years are the only ones staying where they are and as such are dismissed to go to their rooms.” She waited while those students left. “Thank you for your patience, gentlemen. Seventh years? You’ll be moving to Puffskein, as I stated for the ladies, you will have individual rooms and a shared sitting room. Fifth years? You will be moving to Chimera, opposite Puffskein on the fourth floor, there are two bedrooms and a sitting room. Fourth years? You are the largest group and as such, will be on the fifth floor, by yourselves. You will be moving to the Hippogriff dorms, it’s two large rooms, each capable of housing five students, I’ll leave it to you to decide who sleeps where, but any fighting and I will assign beds. Understand?”

“Yes, Professor McGonagall.” The nine fourth year boys all spoke together.

“Thank you. Third years? You’ll be moving to the third floor, the Bowtruckle dorm is opposite Grindylow, the sixth years’ dorm. First years? With the addition of Mr Evermond, you are our second largest group, with seven students and will be housed in the Manticore dormitory on the sixth floor. New rules will apply to those with private rooms, you will not be able to invite females into your rooms, the sitting room is permitted, though doors must remain open whenever a female is present. Understood, gentlemen?”

“Yes, Professor.” All the boys gathered answered dutifully.

“Thank you, gentlemen. I hope that I will not be forced to move you again next year, but until the incoming students are sorted, that cannot be guaranteed. For now, you have an hour to settle into your new rooms. First years? I would hope that you would visit Mr Evermond in the hospital, sometime today.”

“Yes, Professor. We asked Fred and George, on the way back here, to show us the way to the hospital over the lunch break.” Ron answered.

“I’m glad to hear that, Mr Weasley. Gentlemen, I suggest you see to your rooms, you have to settle in and don’t forget to fetch the books you will need for the day’s classes. Your first class will be potions with Professor Snape.”

“Yes, Professor.” The time travelling first year answered as one.

 

Potions with Snape was highly amusing. He did the same, ‘You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking…’ spiel that Harry remembered, the same celebrity bashing and added the same questions. Only this time, Harry actually answered them and answered correctly, too, one might add. Then it was a sternly worded lecture and a demonstration with brusque explanations, followed by practical exercises and lastly, a clear order to re-read the first chapter of their text book before class, the next day. After which they were told to pack their equipment, ingredients and books and depart.

That brought them to the lunch break and their intended visit to the hospital wing and Archer. Fred and George, acting as tour guides, lead the group to the hospital wing and introduced them to the medi-witch.

“Good afternoon, Madam Pomfrey.” The twins chanted, together.

“Mr’s Weasley.” She replied. “To what do I owe the… **_pleasure?”_**  The way she pursed her mouth as she said the last word, made it very clear that she did not consider it a pleasure.

“Out of the goodness of our hearts, we have given up our lunch break to escort our first years to your magnificent hospital, they're here to visit their incarcerated dorm-mate.” The twins assured her.

“Yes… I’m sure you have. Thankfully, Mr Evermond is not my patient and as such, I don’t have to deal with his visitors.” Madam Pomfrey, snorted inelegantly. “He’s in the guest infirmary.” She pointed at  door off to the right and then proceeded to ignore the group.

A few exchanged glances and the group crossed to the indicated door and Draco politely knocked.

“Come.” A woman’s voice ordered, quietly.

Once inside the door, the group looked around, this was a space that few of them had seen before. A large room with whitewashed walls, tall narrow windows made up the wall to the door’s right and a massive fireplace on the one to the left. The room was currently laid out as a hospital room, a potions cabinet against the far wall, alongside a single hospital-type bed, with a few chairs close by.

“Draco.” Lady Narcissa Malfoy smiled at her son. “Professor McGonagall informs me, you are one of her lions?”

“Yes, Mother.” Draco sighed. “Although… Harry did say the Raiders are Slythindors, more than Gryffindors or Slytherins.”

“So Slytherin, the entire school… bar an exceptionally observant few… believe us to be the first year pride.” Harry added, giving her a cheeky smile.

“I see…” Lady Malfoy’s lips twitched in amusement. “Would you introduce us, Draco?”

“Of course, Mother.” Draco nodded and glanced at Harry, who nodded, drew out his wand and threw up some very impressive privacy charms. “In no particular order we have, Mr Ronald Weasley, Raiders’ 2IC, tactician and heavy artillery specialist, Ron was also the Marketing Manager for his brothers’ business. Mr’s Fred and George Weasley, primary equipment suppliers to the Raiders and proprietors of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, a very successful novelty store. Next is Mr Dean Thomas, one of the Raiders’ sharpshooters, who also specialised in demolitions along with Mr Seamus Finnigan, Seamus was another of our heavy artillery sub-squad.  Dean and Seamus ran a demolitions business that specialised in breaking Death-Eater wards and destroying or cleansing buildings tainted by the Dark. The other two heavy artillery squad members were Mr Neville Longbottom and Mr Harry Potter, both were also our infiltration scouts. Mr Longbottom was the head of Gryffindor and the DADA Professor. Mr Potter was Head Auror and a guest lecturer, here. Miss Hermione Granger was in charge of planning and our coordination, as well as being a part of the sharpshooter unit. Miss Granger was the Minister for Magic. Miss Luna Lovegood was likewise, a member of the sharpshooters, but was also observations and communications support. She was the primary Professor for CoMC.”

“And are they aware of the details or have you simply informed them?”

“Oh no, Mother. You, Father, Uncle Severus and I theorised that I was sent back in time in an attempt to save the British Wizarding community. We were wrong. Hermione, who was renowned for her researching abilities, Severus and myself spent a number of hours working our way through possible theories and the only thing we can postulate at this time, is that this was _**not**_ a deliberate attempt on any one person’s part. Harry and Hermione were in the DoM, studying the Veil. Dean and Seamus were in an underground tunnel, studying rune schematics. Ron and I were playing chess in his office, with George throwing hexes at us. Luna and Neville were in the Headmistress’ office discussing the upcoming school year.”

“I see…” She paused. “And the other Mr Weasley? Fred, wasn’t it?”

“I was dead.” Fred answered.

“Dead? Oh… my apologies, Mr Weasley.”

“Not at all, Madam. You weren’t to know.”

“Plus…” Draco said over them. “Professor McGonagall, was with Neville and Luna. While Mr and Mrs Lupin were also deceased.”

“Mr and Mrs Lupin?” Lady Malfoy asked, clearly curious.

“Yes, Mother.” Draco glanced worriedly at Harry and raised an eyebrow.

“Your niece, Lady Malfoy? Nymphadora, who prefers to be called ‘Tonks’, married Remus Lupin in 1997, their son was not among those of us to return.” Harry added quietly. “Professor McGonagall has already broken the news to your sister and her husband.” He grimaced.

“Oh, ouch.” Narcissa winced.

“Yeah, better the Professor, than me.” Harry agreed wholeheartedly.

“Indeed. Would you tell me why my son asked me to volunteer my time as healer, for an unknown muggleborn child, that to date has not been mentioned in neither Draco’s comments, nor your own?” Narcissa requested.

“Is he awake?” Harry asked, wearing a slightly worried expression.

“No. The move and Sorting were harder on him than I anticipated. It is, however a natural sleep, he’s had only a pain relieving draught since arriving here. Who is he?”

“Technically… he’s Archer Evermond. But… this particular boy wasn’t born Archer Evermond." Harry started. "Archer Davis Evermond is dead. Yes, everything stated about Archer is correct, at least until late last night. An hour before Archer died, we used a really odd set of spells, charms and potions on another person, to de-age them and turn them into an exact copy of Archer. Exact. Down to the smallest degree, including his magical signature. In 2004, this process was presented to the ICW, they studied it and approved it. The British magical population was in such dire circumstances that the ICW approved it, instantly.” 

“Oh, gods.” Narcissa gasped.

“It got worse from there. Magical children were suddenly a valuable commodity, with the ICW’s approval, children were brought to Britain from all over the world. And this ‘copying’ process allowed people to have a child that shared as much of their bloodline as they did. Most of those that adopted and ‘copied over’ a child, copied themselves and had their spouse blood adopt the child. This allowed the child to be fractionally different from the ‘copy donor’, enough for legal purposes, anyway.” Harry continued.

“And you used this on Archer?” Narcissa asked.

“We did. The original Archer was dying, there was nothing that either muggle or magical medicine could do to change that. And we had a man to hide. So, we ‘copied’ him. The original Archer Davis Evermond, we are now calling Davis, after his middle name and the boy in that bed is now Archer _**Darian**_ Evermond. After Davis’ death, our Master Healer placed his body under a mortuary stasis and he’ll stay that way until Yule, when we’ll take him home and bury him as Archer’s twin brother.”

“I see…” Narcissa rocked her head as she thought that though. “And what of his boy? Archer? Who was he?”

“We did a di of jiggery-pokery, there.” Harry screwed up his nose. “Ron’s rat was an Animagus. One Peter David Pettigrew.” He spat the name.

“Pettigrew? But… He’s dead.” Narcissa exclaimed.

“Nope, unfortunately not. After giving Voldy the Secret of my parents’ address, he then proceeded to set up my godfather as their betrayer. Sirius went to Azkaban and the rat hid. We switched the rat for Sirius, a variant on polyjuice and a few very illegal charms will see that he’s locked as Sirius until he dies.”

“And the polyjuice variant used will see him dead within a month or so, Mother, it’s poisonous without ongoing treatment, but it doesn’t wear off, it needs a reversal agent and… well… I didn’t see a reason to brew that.” Draco shrugged.

Narcissa blinked a few time as she worked through all the information, they’d given her. Expressions crossed her face before understanding settled in her eyes.

“Archer was Sirius? My cousin Sirius?” While it may have been formed as questions, the delivery was that of clear statements.

Draco and Harry looked at each other and spoke together.

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Well, that’s a… Oh blast… What’s going to happen about the Black Lordship?”

Draco didn’t answer, he just handed over the sheet of parchment that had been used for the family identity potion for Davis and Archer. Narcissa accepted the sheet with a frown, but that frown morphed into a look of surprise, followed by shock, then amusement and lastly calculation.

“What are your plans?”

“We’re going to do nothing until the end of the month and…”

For the next twenty-five minutes, Harry and Draco explained to Narcissa what their plans were and who was to do what. Five minutes in and Narcissa called a house-elf and ordered lunch for herself and the students. In between various pieces of information, Draco and Harry wolfed down their lunch and sipped at their drinks.

“And that’s where we’re at right now.” Harry ended. “Draco’s going to bring me to Malfoy manor tomorrow night, to remove your husband’s DarkMark and then there’s nothing else to do until Archer is back in the dorms.” He shrugged.

“Then you’ll prank Dumbledore?”

“Oh, yes.” Harry grinned. “Very visible, but nothing like anything the Weasley twins have done to date and with time turners? They won’t be held responsible, we’ll see to it.”

A wisp of silvery/blue burst through a wall and bled into a slightly distorted wolf, but it spoke with a very familiar voice.

 _“Ah… Raiders? We have a problem… I got assigned to work with Mad-Eye and he muttered about clumsy oafs, but we’d never met before I joined the Aurors. And…? He slipped up and called me Mrs Lupin? Yeah… we have a problem…”_ Tonks’ voice was almost panicked. _“What should I do?”_

 


	6. Chapter 6

_A wisp of silvery/blue burst through a wall and bled into a slightly distorted wolf, but it spoke with a very familiar voice._

_“Ah… Raiders? We have a problem… I got assigned to work with Mad-Eye and he muttered about clumsy oafs, but we’d never met before I joined the Aurors. And…? He slipped up and called me Mrs Lupin? Yeah… we have a problem…” Tonks’ voice was almost panicked. “What should I do?”_

 

Harry’s head dropped and his chin hit his chest, while his hair seemed to have a life of it’s own. The rest of the Raiders all took one step away from the boy, George pulling Fred with him and Draco easing his Mother around to the foot of the hospital bed. They knew exactly how volatile Harry was when his magic was so close to the surface, that it’s touch was a physical presence.

All of them saw his lips moving. All of them heard the indistinguishable muttering. All of the saw his hands form fists. All of them saw his muscles turn to steel. All of them saw his magic cloak him in power.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Four seconds.

Five seconds.

Six seconds.

Harry’s shoulders rose and fell, before he touched his wand to his throat and snarled the words, " _Expecto patronum"_ in a voice belonging to war.

“Message to Tonks.” The griffin’s feathers were ruffled and it’s hackled raised, showing the watchers clearly how angry Harry was, just by the appearance of his patronus. “ _ **Nymphadora**_ … if you ever send anyone an unguarded message, like you just sent me… consider yourself warned… I shall lock you into your base form with no morphing capabilities… for a week. Do you understand?” Harry voice was hard and cold and not that of a child, his wand changing his voice to that of his adult voice. “Tell him to meet me at midday, I know you kept one. Use it. Same place as last night. Ask him to bring a pensieve. Hellion out.”

“Harry?” Hermione asked.

“If Moody’s joining us, we have to keep him from following Dumbledore’s lead. That means he needs to see what happened after his death. Otherwise we’ll have Dumbledore breathing down our necks and demanding we do things his way.”

“And we all know how that turned out.” Ron huffed.

There were a lot of nodding and a few grunted agreements.

“Har-ry?” A broken voice whispered from the bed.

“Hey, Archer.” Harry hurried over. “How you feeling?”

“Like… I been… run over… by a herd… of hippogriffs…” Archer whimpered.

“Hurts?”

“U-huh…” Archer grunted and watched as Draco retrieved a phial of a pain-reliving potion and hand it to Harry. Fred and George stepped forward and eased the boy up from his pillows, into a semi reclined position.

“Here we go.” Harry held the phial to Archer’s mouth. “Just sip it, slowly, but you have to drink the lot if you want it to work.”

“U-kay…” Archer grunted and let Harry tip the contents of the phial into his mouth, bit-by-bit, until the phial was empty.

“There you go, let that work.” Harry nodded to Fred and George and they eased Archer back to his pillows.

“How long…?” Archer whispered.

“Lunchtime the next day.” Harry answered.

“Quick…”

“It is, but we did expect some time today or tomorrow.” Harry agreed.

“Cool.” Archer raised his head a little and blinked when he saw Narcissa. “Ah…?”

“Hello, cousin.” She greeted him. “It’s been a long time since we spoke. I would like to assure you that Lucius and I are firmly in agreement with Draco, Mr Potter and their cohorts.”

“Oh… Uh…” Archer looked to Harry.

“Yes, she knows.” Harry answered the unspoken question.

“Oh… Okay… Hey, Cissa.”

A tear ran down Narcissa’s cheek. “Hello, cousin.” She said, again.

Before she had a chance to say anything more, Harry raised his head sharply. “Incoming alert.” He flicked his wand and his privacy charms fell.

Ron watched as Fred and George plopped themselves on the foot of Archer’s bed and proceeded to bicker with each other, before he turned to Draco and the two boys began a discussion about quidditch, debating the pros and cons of the various positions. Luna and Neville took up a long-term discussion about herbology, while Harry and Hermione, were telling Archer about the portraits and how they moved and spoke to you.

Within seconds of these various discussions starting, the main door to the guest quarters opened and Dumbledore entered, followed by McGonagall and a healer from St Mungo's, who wore a Master Healer’s badge on his robe.

“Oh, visitors.” Dumbledore twinkled at them. “Ten points to Gryffindor for welcoming Mr Evermond to Hogwarts.” He looked to Narcissa. “Lady Malfoy, may I extend the thanks of myself and my staff for your time and care towards Mr Evermond?”

“Children should be cherished, Headmaster. All children. When Severus told me of the boy’s condition and of St Mungo's position on his care, how could I not attend him?” The blonde woman replied.

“And he’s to be in the same house as your son, I understand?” The still unnamed healer asked.

“Oh, yes. Draco was so excited, Gryffindor was the only house we weren’t able to show him a memory of.” Narcissa smiled gently at her son.

“A memory?” Dumbledore asked.

“Yes, Lucius and I were both in Slytherin, as I’m sure you remember.” Narcissa wore a serene expression. “However, Lucius’ sister Pandora was a Ravenclaw and Andromeda’s daughter Nymphadora was a Hufflepuff. But other than Sirius Black, there’s no one in either families that wore red and gold.” Narcissa explained. “Draco’s been saying for weeks, now, that he’d be a lion. That we, the Malfoy and Black families, should have first hand knowledge of all of Hogwarts houses, that to limit ourselves to just Slytherin is to limit our opportunities for friendships. Lucius had to remind him that just because he’s in one house, doesn’t mean he can have friends in other houses. Yes, the house rivalries do make that difficult, but he understands that if he wants something, he has to work for it.”

“Ah… a commendable idea, Lady Malfoy, a most commendable idea.” Dumbledore nodded. “Students? I apologise, but Master Healer Beckett needs to speak to Lady Malfoy and assess Mr Evermond. So, I’m going to have to ask you leave. If you hurry, lunch is still being served.” Dumbledore said.

“Yes, Professor.” The twins scrambled from the bed and waved at Archer. “We’ll try and get up and see you after classes.”

Archer smiled and nodded. “Thanks, guys.” His voice was weak and cracked.

“Speak to Lady Malfoy, before you do, please.” Dumbledore warned.

“Yes, Professor.” They all answered dutifully and after waving at Archer and giving Lady Malfoy shy smiles, the students left the infirmary.

“Right, we need some sleep and Harry needs to meet with Moody.” George took charge. “You lot follow me, Fred and I have an abandoned classroom and office that we use as a lab and office for our prank stuff.”

“You head that way and I’ll head for the shack.” Harry ordered. “What’s the time? Mione?”

“Five to two, Harry.” The girl answered.

“Great. We’ll meet back here, at the steps to the hospital wing at two o’clock.” Harry gave them a wave and pulled out his time turner. Five turns and he vanished from sight.

“I’m glad there’s no paintings around to watch him.” Mione huffed. “Alright, George, Fred, lead the way.” Hermione held out her hand and Draco took it gently and threaded it through his arm.

Ron glanced at Luna and did the same, as did Dean and Seamus.

“Beginning to feel left out, here.” Neville muttered.

“Oh, do not despair, fair sir. Allow me to be-est thou guide and escort thee to thine slumber.” George intoned in a medieval air, bowing elaborately.

Neville looked at George and frowned for a moment, before shrugging. “Eh, why not?” He muttered. “I give thee my deepest gratitude, dear sir and heartily accept thine assistance.” And tucked his arm through Fred’s and followed the others.

 

Moody stomped his way into the shrieking shack and with a look of disgust at the condition of the building, conjured himself a chair, a simple three-legged stool. He sat down and prepared to wait. Potter had said midday, but he and Tonks hadn’t left the Ministry until two and at first Moody assumed that Potter had meant the next day and was going to head off on a lead about some stolen dragons’ eggs. But Tonks had stopped him and pulled out a time turner, she’d raised an eyebrow in challenge and at Moody’s grumbling nod, had looped it over their heads and spun the hourglass.

So, here was Moody, at ten until twelve, just waiting. “Bloody Potters.” He grumbled, his mind filling in many memories of James and Fleamont during their time in the Auror corps.

The sound of light footsteps in the hall, made Moody tense. When the small boy entered the room and nodded to Moody, the old Auror was forced to blink. The boy had an air about him, something that made the hair on the back of Moody’s neck stand up, not in fear, but in a sense of anticipation.

“Potter.”

“Moody.”

“What happened?”

“Did you bring a pensieve, like I suggested?”

“I did.”

“Good. Pull it out.”

“Not yet, Potter. Tell me why I should.”

Potter lifted his head and looked at the ceiling, then flicked his wand and erected some seriously nasty privacy wards, before looking back at Moody, his wand falling into it’s holster. The old Auror allowed himself to look suitably impressed, those wards were tricky buggers to master.

“You died. On the 27th of July 1997, a Sunday, if I recall. You’d come with a group from the Order… Ron, Fred, George, Bill and Arthur Weasley, Fleur Delacour, Hermione, Dung, Kingsley, Tonks, Remus and Hagrid… to remove me from Privet Drive. Not sure where you planned for us to go, things went to shit pretty damn quick. Hagrid took me to the Weasley’s place, but I’m not sure he was supposed to.”

“He wasn’t.”

“Yeah, didn’t think so. Hagrid’s not the best at doing what he’s supposed to. Anyway, you died, Bill said Dung took one look at Voldy and disapparated.”

“He did.”

“It got bad from there onwards. Bill and Fleur got married a fortnight later and halfway through the reception, Kingsley sent us a patronus, the Ministry had fallen. Voldy had control. The Death-Eaters came for us, they attacked the reception, at the same time as they attacked Hogwarts. Hermione apparated Ron and I away, we ended up in the middle of London. The next eight months we spent camping, apparating to a new location every few days. We were on the hunt for Voldy’s Horcruxes. But-”

“ ** _Horcruxes!?_**  Plural? As in, more than **_one?!_** ” Moody squawked.

“Yep. Dumbledore believed Voldy had split his soul in seven, seven being the strongest magical number. Unfortunately, he was wrong. It turned out that Voldy had **_created_**  seven Horcruxes, albeit one was accidental. They were the Diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Gaunt Family Ring, The Badger Cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw and a Locket belonging to Salazar Slytherin. The last two were living beings. We knew about the snake Nagini, but it wasn’t until we were already in the middle of a battle for Hogwarts that we were told about the seventh.”

“What was it?”

“You’re aware that Snape killed Dumbledore?”

“Yeah and I’m biding my time, I’ll get the bastard.” Moody grimaced, baring his teeth.

“No, you won’t. Snape only killed Dumbledore because Dumbledore blackmailed him into it.”

“How do you know? He’s a master at lying.”

“He was dying, Voldy cut his neck open and ordered the snake to kill him. Snape’s laying there with his neck sliced open and Nagini’s poison in his veins, so Voldy felt he was as good as dead and left him to die alone. But Ron, Hermione and I were hiding in the same building, we’d heard the whole thing. Once Voldy was gone, something made me go to Snape. He game me his memories, told me to take them to a pensieve.”

“He **_gave_**  you his memories? All of them?” Moody's jaw fell in shock. Giving someone your memories was intensely personal.

“Not all of them, but a lot. Snape was loyal, completely utterly loyal, just not to Dumbledore.”

“I knew it! I knew it. I’ll kill him.” Moody ranted.

Potter waited until he settled down to muttering under his breath, before continuing.

“Completely and utterly loyal, not to Dumbledore, but not to Voldy, either.”

Moody froze. “Not…? But…? Then… to who?”

“Lily Juniper Evans… The moment that Voldy targeted my Mother, he lost Snape. The moment that Dumbledore told Snape that I was the last Horcruxe and had to die, Dumbledore lost Snape. Snape’s loyalty is, first and foremost, to my Mother.”

Moody blinked and tilted his head. “Huh, didn’t see that coming. Keep going.”

“I followed Dumbledore’s plan and gave myself up to Voldy to kill.”

 ** _“What?!”_**  Moody screeched.

“But I didn’t stay dead. I was given a choice, me or the Horcruxe. I could join my family or I could come back. I came back and eventually, after about another hour, I managed to turn Voldy’s spell back on him, he was using a wand that had turned it’s allegiance to me. He fired a killing curse and the wand let it be turned it back on him, so as not to harm it’s chosen wielder, me. He died and stayed dead.”

“You won.”

“We won the battle, we ended the war, but we lost the future.” Potter sighed.

“What?” Moody frowned.

“The Carrows did something, St Mungo's don’t know what, but they caused most of our population to become infertile. Of the two hundred-odd students in the school that year, only eleven were capable of reproducing. And pretty much anyone, that had fought against the Carrows, or came within a certain distance… which was how close, we don’t know… also became infertile." 

“Merlin…” Moody whispered.

“Yeah…” Potter sighed, again. “We lost about a third of our population to Voldy and his DE’s, but we lost well over half our child-bearing population and even those capable of having children? They were affected, too. The average birth-rate for magical Britain, was about forty babies a month, but after the war? For the next five years? Less than thirty, all up. Magical Britain was dying. The Wizengamot assigned the Unspeakables to find a way around it and they did… sort of. They asked the ICW for assistance and Muggleborns and orphans were brought here, from all over the world. Magical children were suddenly a very valuable commodity. They were adopted into families using a combination of potions, spells and rituals, this combination enabled a child become a copy of an adult, exact in every way, bar their age and existing medical condition. Then an ordinary blood adoption from the adult’s partner, altered the child’s blood and magical signature just enough to give them an individual identity.”

“Gods…”

“Even werewolf children were welcomed. We found a way to alter their curse and while they still transformed every full moon, they didn’t transform in a werewolf, but into a natural wolf and they didn’t have to stay that way for the entire night, they were able to use the Animagus transformation to morph back into their human forms. And they were no longer infectious.”

“Gods…” Moody said, again.

“By the time 2019 rolled around, so much had changed. Terrorism was a thing. In 2001, four commercial passenger planes in America were hijacked by terrorists, two were flown directly into the Twin Towers Trade Centre, a third was crashed into the Pentagon and the last was intended for either the Whitehouse or the Capitol Building, but due to passengers fighting back, was crashed into a field. Three thousand dead in a matter of minutes. And the world was forever changed.” The last sentence was whispered.

Moody was silent, he couldn’t make himself speak.

“Kingsley was Minister, he'd been told that the muggles had formed terrorist response teams and decided that we should have a response unit of our own. The Auror corps were down to twenty qualified Aurors, at the end of the war and Kingsley was the only senior Auror to survive. He'd waivered the formal qualifications on entry applications, but we still had to pass the Gauntlet to get in. Forty-seven of us passed and started training, forty-four of us graduated within a year. Within ten minutes of my graduating, Kingsley asked me to head the response team and gave me carte blanche on personnel, Auror and civilian. I in turn suggested two teams and he just waved off and told me ‘the response unit is your problem, now get out off my office’. So, I got my two teams.”

Moody grunted and waved in a circular motion.

“The first team I personally lead, the Raiders, the second was lead by Ginny Weasley, the Sweepers. The Raiders consisted of myself, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. The Sweepers were Ginny Weasley, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones and Oliver Wood.” Potter sighed. “Things were going along alright… and then…? I was here, I woke on my eleventh birthday. I don’t know what the hell happened. I mean yeah sure, I did something stupid, but that doesn’t account for what happened.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was in the Veil Room, Hermione with me, but none of the rest of you.”

“Rest? What do you mean, rest?” Moody demanded.

“So far, there’s a crap load of us back. Me, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Neville, Draco, Luna, Dean, Seamus, McGonagall, Tonks, Remus and Sirius… And now… you.”

Moody reared back in shock. “That’s… that’s…”

“Yep.” Potter grunted. “And I still don’t know if that’s it.”

“Why not?”

“Well, hell I wasn’t expecting anyone, I thought it was just me and made my plans, accordingly. But on the Express, Ron called me ‘Mr Head Auror, sir’, then Hermione and Draco joined us, followed by the twins, Neville, Dean, Seamus and Luna. Last night McGonagall outed herself by being surprised that Draco and Luna got into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin and Ravenclaw. I come here to speak to Remus and he greets me with ‘what the hell did you do to my wife and I?’. Sirius didn’t react, just told Voldy he’d have to do better than that, when faced with me and Remus. And **_now you!_** ” Potter screamed. “How many more are there? I… don’t… know… Will there be more? I… don’t… **_know_** …”

“Huh…” Moody grunted. “Alright… Why didn’t you go to Dumbledore?”

Potter studied the old Auror for a few moments.

“Dumbledore cast the _Fidelius_ for my parents, he knew Sirius was innocent. He sent Hagrid to fetch me, how did he know I was still alive and my parents weren't? Sirius was there, Hagrid took me from him, on Dumbledore’s orders. Dumbledore had me placed with the Dursley's before Sirius was arrested. He’d sealed my parents’ Wills before Sirius was arrested. He’d accessed my trust vault before Sirius was arrested and has continued to do so on a regular basis, the ʛalleons going directly into his own vault, not to my care. He’s tried to access the Potter Family vaults, but the goblins have been able to deny him, stating that the Wills are sealed, so they can’t confirm his authority. He’s denied me my heritage, he’s denied me my mail, he’s denied me my magic. I had bindings that he’d placed, using my own magic to set them. He’s the one that authorised all of those stupid ‘Harry Potter and the ?’, books, the royalties from which, are going into his vaults, not mine. And to top it all off… He knew I was a Horcruxe, the moment he laid eyes on my head and he’s not done anything about it and has no intention of doing anything about it. Now or at any point in the future. As far as he’s concerned, the only way to end Voldy is for all the Horcruxes to be destroyed… including me.”

“Gods…”

“Dumbledore’s… He’s… I dunno.” Potter shrugged. “He’s like a chess-master that doesn’t realise that his pieces are actual people. He formulates a plan and sticks to it, even when it begins to fail, he can’t let it go. And he can’t understand that other people can have thoughts and ideas that might work better than his. And most damning of all, he can’t admit when he’s wrong. He’s not evil, like Voldy is, he’s just…”

“Focused…” Moody finished for him. “He’s focused and when he’s so focused, he can’t see anything else but what he’s focusing on.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Potter sighed.

“So, what’s your plan? What are you going to do about Black? And Pettigrew?”

“Sirius and the rat are already done.”

“What? What did you do?” Moody frowned.

“We fed the rat a polyjuice-variant based on Sirius and locked it in with highly illegal and untraceable wand-work. He doesn’t know he’s not Sirius Black and the polyjuice is poisonous without treatment and will last until after he’s been dead for a week. Sirius is now, Archer Evermond.”

“The kid from St Mungo's?”

“Yeah, Archer Davis Evermond was his name, he was dying and nothing was going to change that. And you know what the healers are like when it comes to dead orphan muggleborns.” Potter sighed. “The likelihood is that his body would just be vanished. So, we used the copying process to make Sirius an exact copy of him, minus the medical condition and when he died, we put him into a mortuary stasis and over Yule, we’ll see he’s buried as Davis Evermond, twin brother to muggleborn Archer Evermond, who was transferred to Hogwarts’ hospital wing this morning.”

“And what happens to Pettigrew?”

“Like I said, he dies, sometime in the next month or so, and sometime before the end of the school year, we’ll have Sirius’ name cleared.”

“And your plans for Dumbledore? And Riddle?”

“In order? First is removing a pair of DarkMarks. Snape and Lucius Malfoy are aware of what the future was and have joined forces with us. They’ve both seen Draco’s memories and how bad things got and like us, they want no part of it. Second? Voldy. We’ve a ritual that will summon a soul-shard out of a Horcruxe. We plan to use the diary, the most passive of his Horcruxes, to hold all the shards, then we’ll take a trip down to the Chamber of Secrets and while the basilisk is still dormant, kill it and render it down, we’ll use either a fang or a goblin blade imbued with venom to destroy the Horcruxe. That’s not going to happen until Archer has been released from the hospital wing and is back in our dormitory.” Potter conjured a goblet and used an _aguamenti_  to fill it, before he continued. “At some point next month, I’ll receive a letter from Remus stating that the Dursley's have moved to America and my muggle guardianship has been transferred to him. McGonagall’s going to comment… somewhere that either Dumbledore, or one of the portraits that report to him can overhear her… that she really hopes that Dumbledore won’t let Snape become my magical guardian.”

“You **_want_**  Snape as your magical guardian?” Moody gawped at him.

“Yep. Dumbledore’s likely to worry that Remus will be more loyal to me than to him and that with Snape as my magical guardian, the two are going to disagree about how to raise me, leaving Dumbledore as the one to mediate between them and actually make the decisions.”

Moody rocked his head backwards and forwards. “That would work.”

“It would and add to it that Archer is going to be the new Lord Black as Sirius has written a new Will and left it with McGonagall, dated the day before the shit hit the fan. He-”

“Get it to me and I’ll add it to his Auror records, I doubt anyone's checked them.” Moody offered.

“Great, that will make things a bit easier, I’ll tell McGonagall tonight, she’s got it. Anyway, his Will now says that while he’ll leave a lot to me, he can’t leave me the title, Merlin’s Law, remember? So, he’s leaving it to the Family Laws and Black Family Law states that the youngest eligible male at the time of the previous Lord’s death will be the Lord and in the case of the new Lord being underage, the youngest eligible, of age male, will be the new Lord-Designate’s seneschal. Plus, Sirius added a clause in his Will that if the Lord-Designate is an orphan, that his seneschal will also be his magical guardian.”

“And that’s who?”

“Archer will be the Lord-Designate and Charlie Weasley will be his magical guardian. But here’s where we’re going to get sneaky. Snape is going to suggest to Dumbledore, that Dumbledore ask Remus to be Archer’s muggle guardian, sighting that having the two of us is likely to make Remus play favourites and quite probably cause a rift between me and Remus. Making Dumbledore think he’s going to be in more in control, than he actually is.”

Moody nodded his agreement.

“This will all happen before Yule holidays and Snape is going to be the one to suggest that Archer and I go ‘home’ for the holidays. Then in late May or early June, just before the exam season starts, we’ll have Remus lodge the paperwork, to adopt both Archer and I in the muggle world.”

“Huh… leaving it until Dumbledore’s too busy with exams, students, examiners and the Ministry to object… Smart, Potter, smart.” Moody grunted. “But what about Dumbledore? What have you got planned for him?”

“Mostly a lot of pranking. Very visible, very embarrassing, but thanks to a dozen of the Unspeakables twenty-four hour time-turners, he won’t be able to pin them on anyone. That and of course, we’ll be making sure that his schemes all fail. Right now, Quirinus Quirrell has Voldy as a parasitic wraith, possessing him, we’re going to change that. Dumbledore should know that Quirrell is possessed by something, but hopefully he’ll only be guessing on who or what. We plan to capture Quirrell, destroy all the Horcruxes, including the wraith and obliviate Quirrell, before dumping him somewhere very public, probably Hogsmeade or Diagon, don’t know, haven’t decided yet. After that, we plan to use muggle drugs on Dumbledore and make it seem like he's loosing his marbles. We've no intention of killing him, we just want out of power.”

“Tell me about your long-term goals.”

“Hmm… Fred and George are going to reopen their shop. Draco is going to go back to study for his healer’s Mastery, again. Hermione wants to go to the Unspeakables, rather then be Minister, this time. Ron is going to join the twins and be their marketing manager, again. Seamus and Dean probably won’t got the same way this time, they were demolition experts, specialising in taking out buildings and wards laid by the DE’s, they’ll probably go into the Aurors. Nev and Luna are going to go for their Masteries, Luna in CoMC and Nev in DADA, then teach. Tonks is already with you. Remus will take on teaching, not sure if we want him in DADA or History of Magic. Personally? I’m leaning towards HoM. That way Dumbledore still thinks that his DADA teachers are the ones to ‘teach’ me.”

“Or _**not**_ teach you.”

“Yep. Hermione’s already in planning. None of us are going to excel, not really. We’re going to be in the top half, but not take any of the top three spots on a regular basis. OWLs, we’re going to get O’s, but only just. NEWTs, however, we’re going to go all out and take the highest honours.”

“And what are **_you_**  going to do? After Hogwarts, I mean.”

“I’m tossing up between coming back to the Aurors or being the Muggle Studies teacher.”

“And Dumbledore?”

"In the long brew, we’re going ease him out of his various positions, we’re going to make him feel and look old and confused. But not with charms, hexes, curses or potions. Like i said, we’re going to use muggle drugs and contaminate his lemon drops. St Mungo's will never pick up on them, it’ll just be Dumbledore getting old, after all he’s not a young man anymore. He was born in 1881, he’s already one hundred and ten. People expect minds to begin to fail at that age, magic or no magic.”

“True. Do you ever plan on telling him?”

“No. Not a chance.” Potter stated bluntly. “Dumbledore will **_always_**  have a loyal following and even if we get him out of Hogwarts and the Wizengamot, there’ll always be people that will listen to him.”

“Humph…” Moody grunted. “And time travel… like everything else he can’t control, must be Dark.”

“Yeah...” Potter sighed.

“Dumbledore’s going to push you to follow your Father, you know that, right? Quidditch. Head Boy. Marry the right girl. Etc.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to work. Quidditch? Dad played chaser, I’m a brilliant seeker and a fair beater. Head Boy? Not me, I’m going to leave that for Ron or Draco. Marry the girl? Not happening. Ever. I’m gay.”

“Dumbledore will never accept that.” Moody warned.

“Bit hypocritical, isn’t he?”

“Meaning?” Moody frowned.

“Dumbledore’s gay. His first lover was Grindelwald.” Potter explained.

Moody’s eye bulged and his jaw fell. “G-Grindelw-wald? Gell-Gellert Grindelwald?” He stammered. “Dumbledore and _**Grindelwald?”**_

“Yeah, bit of a kick in the teeth, huh?”

“Yeah…” Moody breathed out.

Neither person said anything for a few minutes, both thinking, minds going in different directions. Moody trying to get his head around the idea of Dumbledore and the greatest Dark Lord the Wizarding World had seen in centuries, being lovers. He shuddered, he needed to obliviate the images from his mind. Urgh.

Potter’s thoughts remained hidden behind his killing-curse-green eyes, not a hint of them showing.

“Alright, Potter. I want to see some memories, now. I’ll give you a date and you provide a memory from that date. Agreed?” Moody pulled a trunk from his pocket and after opening it, pulled out a pensieve.

“Agreed.” Potter nodded.

“The morning after you killed… Voldy, you called him?”

Potter nodded and focused his mind, his wand touched his forehead and a silky strand of fluff clung to it. He smoothly lifted it clear and let it fall into the pensieve.

“First of September, this year. This time. Not the original time.”

Potter repeated the process.

“First of January, 2000.”

Another strand of fluff.

“Tenth of March, 2003.”

“Twentieth of June, 2005.”

“Fifteenth of November, 2008.

“Eleventh of April, 2010.”

“Second of December, 2011.”

“Fourteenth of September, 2013.”

“Thirtieth of May, 2015.”

“Ninth of February, 2016.”

“Twenty-second of July, 2017.

“Eighteenth of October, 2018.”

“The last memory you have, before leaving, travelling back in time, whatever you call it.”

Potter placed memory after memory into the pensieve, before looking to Moody. “You want me to watch with you and answer questions, or would you prefer to watch undisturbed?”

“Oh, no, Potter. If I have to watch, you’re coming, too.”

“We’ll be defenceless once we’re in there, you know that, right?”

“No one’s getting in here, Potter, I’ve got wards covering every access point, including the tunnel. We’ll be as safe as it’s possible to be, in a pensieve.” Moody objected.

“Your call, Moody.”

“In, Potter.” The old Auror ordered and Potter shrugged and dipped his face to the pensieve’s surface, letting it draw him into the memories. A few seconds passed and Moody appeared beside him. “Your memories, Potter, you lead the way.”

For the next however long, Potter lead the other man through his memories. It seemed like hours, maybe even days, but both knew that it would only be a few seconds, the highly charmed liquid of the pensieve altering their perception of time. No matter how many memories a pensieve held, the watchers were only in it for seconds. No one quite knew why it was this way, most assumed it had something to do with not being able to breathe.

The two males emerged from the bowl and settled back onto their respective seats. Neither saying a word, Moody was re-evaluating the person in front of him. A Master Auror.

“You… you were a Master Auror.” Moody said, finally.

“I was.” Potter replied. “And apparently, I still am.”

“What?”

“Swapping the rat for Sirius? I used my Master Auror authority to override the magic suppression on Sirius’ cell. It worked.”

“Oh, great, just bloody wonderful. An eleven year old with a Master Auror’s authority. Bloody brilliant. Any other surprises I should know about, Potter?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Potter paused. “Not unless you count a Malfoy wanting to marry a muggleborn?”

Moody just looked at the child and shook his head. “I think… I think your friends are right, neither Dumbledore nor Voldy are going to see this coming.” He sighed. “Yeah, I’m in. I might live to regret this, but I’m in. The alternative? Not worth considering.”

“It’s not.” Potter agreed.

“Alright, so how am I supposed to keep in contact with you? Via Tonks? Or Lupin? Or McGonagall?”

“Actually, none of them. We're going to send an order to Sribbulus’ for blank journals, then Hermione’s going to link them all together. Plus, it occurred to me this morning that the mirrors that Dad, Sirius and Remus had as students, would be handy in emergency.”

“Leave the mirrors for the moment, at least until you’re living with Lupin. It’d stand to reason that he’d give you, your Father’s mirror and maybe even give Black’s to the Evermond boy.”

“You do understand that Archer Evermond was Sirius, don’t you?” Potter frowned.

“Yes, but the more I call him the Evermond boy, the more I cement it with occlumency. That’s something else you lot should be thinking about. Occlumency and Legilimency. Dumbledore won’t hesitate to use them on any of you.”

“Yeah, good luck there.” Potter smirked. “Algernon Longbottom taught us all, all the Raiders and to a certain extent, the Sweepers, too. Dumbledore will only see what I want him to. An insecure boy, slightly out of his depth with magic.”

“Good. How many of these journals are you getting?”

“I had planned on a dozen, but… there’s already more of us than that, including our non-travelled allies.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… Seven boys in first year, the twins, the two girls in first year, McGonagall, Remus, Tonks and you. Plus, Snape and the two Malfoys. Eighteen. And who knows how many more are going to turn up.”

“And you want all of us to have a journal?”

“Of course, I do.” Potter objected.

“Then make it two dozen. Just in case.”

“Better to have too many than not enough.” Potter agreed. “I’m going to have someone order for me, Dumbledore’s mail diversions are still in place and I don’t want him asking why I ordered twenty-four blank journals.”

“Leave that with me. It’s going to cost, though. Two dozen journals at ten sickles a pieces, that’s… ʛ14 and δ2. I can probably get ‘em for ʛ14, though.” Moody muttered. “That’s assuming you want ever-fill charms on ‘em? And password only, access? Or are you after signature recognition?”

“Ever-fill and password protections. I’m wouldn’t be surprised if Dumbledore’s already got my magical signature recorded and has a phial of my blood to got with it.” Potter stated.

“That could cause a problem.” Moody warned.

Potter grinned viciously. “I’ve had an identity test done at Gringotts and did you know that to get an identity test done, you have to do it in person? No exceptions. And Dumbledore has no idea what my **_name_**  actually **_is_**. It’s only listed on my birth certificate, which is in the Potter Family vault and he can’t access that.”

“It’s not Harry Potter? Wouldn’t it show up on your Hogwarts’ letter or in the Book of Names?”

“Nope. No Harry anywhere in my name, nor anything that Harry is a diminutive of, either. Sirius gave me the nickname ‘Harry’ within seconds of hearing my actual name, said there was no way in hell he was calling any kid by that foul appellation. And both my Hogwarts letter and the Book label me as H.J. Potter. Just like Dumbledore is listed as A.P. Dumbledore, neither list additional middle names or even their initials.”

“Oh hell, kid. That’s…” Moody blinked.

“That’s handy, would have got me out of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, if I’d known.” Potter dug a coin pouch out of his pocket and tossed it to moody. “Here, there’s a couple hundred ʛalleons in there. Get the journals, send a message to McGonagall or Snape and we’ll organise pickup, keep a hold of the rest, I’m sure we’ll have other things we need. But right now? I need some sleep. Yesterday morning was some forty-odd hours ago and I still have DADA and Charms classes to get through this afternoon. I’ll catch a few hours sleep and turn back to half after one, that’ll give me enough time to get back to the castle and meet the others at two, before DADA starts at twelve past two.”

“As long as you can keep it all straight in you head, where you were at what time.” Moody warned.

“Yeah, I got it.” Potter answered. “I turned at five to two, outside the hospital wing, back to half eleven and came here. I’ll sleep until five-ish and re-enter the tunnel, turn back to half one, head back to the hospital wing, meet the others at two, head to DADA. No more turning today.” He shrugged.

“Better you than me, kid.”

Potter didn’t answer, he just waved and wandered out of the room, Moody heard his footsteps as he climbed the stair to the next floor and a thump as the boy obviously conjured himself a bed. Then silence. Moody sighed and hauled himself to his feet and as quietly as he could left the decrepit old building.

Outside, he waited while Tonks sidled her way over to him.

“Well?” She asked.

“Well… we’ve some shopping to do. Let’s go.”

 

Back in the castle a third year boy was heading for the owlery to send a letter. A Malfoy in Gryffindor? He didn’t remember that. Maybe he wasn’t alone, after all…


	7. Chapter 7

_Back in the castle a third year boy was heading for the owlery to send a letter. A Malfoy in Gryffindor? He didn’t remember that. Maybe he wasn’t alone, after all…_

 

The afternoon passed slowly. Very slowly. All the ‘travelled’ first years sat through DADA, each of them imagining the hell they wanted to put Quirrell and his passenger through, all of them making notes of their preferred ‘hell’ to add to the journals once they arrived. Then it was time for charms and the tiny half-goblin Professor.

After some of the magic that the ‘travelled’ used on a daily basis, floating a feather seemed such a simple thing. It took them only a few minutes to realise that while it was simple, doing it in such a way as to portray an inexperienced first year was really a challenge. To make the feathers bob and dance irregularly was much harder than any of them expected.

But bob and dance the feathers did and Professor Flitwick was in raptures that so many of his class got it on their first lesson. And while he desperately wanted to run off to the Headmaster and tell him, he knew that many students excelled for the first week, before settling down to mediocrity. There was no way to know if that was to be the case with the Gryffindor firsties.

Only time would tell.

After charms finished, the firsties met up with the twins, who were avoiding the Great Hall, and headed off to the kitchens. The twins already had their first quidditch practice scheduled for Thursday and were debating if they were going to try and get Harry, Ron and Draco onto the team. Oliver Wood was Gryffindor’s Keeper and this year he was also the team captain, they knew that the moment the quidditch obsessed fifth year saw the three firsties fly, he’d want them, but was that a good idea for this year?

In the kitchens, the elves scampered around getting ready for dinner, huge roasts turning on spits and trays of veges, going into and coming out of the massive ovens. A young elf, carrying a clipboard, trotted over to them and dipped a curtsy.

“Tippy be welcoming the Wheezies and the Wheezies’ friendses. How can Tippy be’s helping the Wheezies and their friendses?”

Draco stepped forward and spoke to the elf. “Tippy, I’m sure that Hogwarts’ elves know that Archer Evermond is up in the guest infirmary and has been very ill. He needs special food, highly nutritious and easy to eat, nothing rich or heavy, but still with lots of flavour. Can you see that something is made for him? And if possible, can you make enough for all of us to have dinner with him?”

“Tippy is being on lists today, so Tippy will be’s asking head cook, Peeler. But Tippy thinks so. Guesty healer has already sent an order down with’s much the same directions, but Tippy will confirm.” The elf made a note on the clipboard and looked back at the group. “Is there anything else’s Tippy can help the students with?”

“There is.” Harry came forward. “Can we buy food from Hogwarts? To keep in our dorms and to take with us during holidays?”

“Students can, but the kitchens must be’s tolds in advance. If’s a student tells what’s dey’s wants, elveses cans see’s that dey’s gets it. Students’ must provide a place for kitchen elveses to put dey’s foods, it must haves charmies to be’s keeping food fresh. And hots or colds as needs be’s.”

“How far in advance? And will a transfer cabinet be alright? We can move things to our preferred storage units.” Harry asked.

The elf tilted her head and frowned. “Tippy is not sure, please be’s waiting and Tippy with be’s asking Peeler.” The elf dipped another curtsey and darted across the room, skirting around table and twisting around and under trays as they floated from space to space. She stopped beside a tall male elf that had a smattering of black hair, she spoke to him earnestly and listened as he answered. The elf followed her back to the group of students.

“Tippy tells Peeler that the students are asking about food for out of school?”

“Yes, Head Cook Peeler.” Harry replied.

“If’s the student asks, we can provide. The student needs to be asking two days in advance. Breaks-fasts are limited to what's we serve, plus porridges and fruits. Full meals are two meats, five veg, sauce and one dessert or soup, one meat, three veg and one dessert. If this is to be’s a regular things, students will be’s given men-wu’s and cans makes choices. Snacks can be by requests or we always be’s having biscuits, fruits and breads available.” The elf recited. “A transfer cabinet is fines, but hogy-warty's elveses take no’s responsibilities for’s the foods onces it leaves the cabinet, how students stores the food is dey’s problem and if dey's gets sicks, we’s are not to be’s blamed.”

“Understood.” Harry nodded. “And the cost?”

“Breaks-fasts are one δickle, meals are three δickles, snackses are froms a men-wu and students pays what Hogwarts pays.”

“This is going to be a long-term arrangement, so can you please work out a menu for us? I’ll see to the transfer cabinet, but it may take a day or two. In the mean time.” Harry dug out a pair of ʛalleons and gently put them on the table in front of him. “We’d like a selection of snacks, for ten people, that will last a day or two, no need for longer, we’ll eat them before that. Any money left over is a deposit towards my long-term request.”

“Certainly, little master. Peeler will direct Tippy and where would little master like the snacks sent?”

“We'd like one lot to go to the Gryffindor first years’ boys’ Manticore dorm on the sixth floor, please. And a second set to go to the classroom we're using as a study space, it's in that corridor that filled with ice a few years, the one on the fifth floor of the main Keep.”

“Yes, little master, we knows of it. We’s can have a stasis cupboard added to’s both rooms, if little master likes?”

“Oh, thank you, that would be very handy.” Harry smiled at the two elves. “Can you put them on the wall behind the doors? So that anyone standing in the doorway can’t see them?”

“Of courses we can, little master.”

“Could you also put a smaller one in the Gryffindor first years’ girls’ Mallowsweet dorm, in room one, please?” Hermione asked, also placing a ʛalleon on the table. “Just for two, please.”

“Yes, Miss.” Peeler nodded and Tippy pulled a fresh sheet of parchment and clipboard from a pouch at her waist and made a few notes. “Transfer cabinets will have to be brought’s to the kitchens before we cans be’s fillings them. Men-wu’s will be ready by tonight and wills be’s replaced every two weeks. Once the cabinets are here, men-wu’s will be on the inside side of the outer door, for tonight, we’s wills be puttings them in the big stasis cupboard in the boys’ room.”

“That’s fine, Head Cook Peeler.” Harry nodded.

“We’s wills have some chooky and veg stews sent up to’s the guests’ infirmy-aries for the students’ and the guesties.” Peeler added. “Is that all the students’ needs?”

“Yes, thank you Head Cook Peeler.” The students all smiled and with a wave left the kitchens and headed for the guest infirmary.

Draco popped his head in the door and smiled at his Mother as she talked to Madam Pomfrey.

“Sorry for interrupting, Mother. But can we visit Archer?”

“He’s asleep right now, my dragon. The healer's visit and assessment were harder on him than I expected. Curfew is at nine, still?” She asked and waited until Draco nodded. “Very good. Perhaps you and your housemates, might drop by after dinner. Or I can send an elf to you if he wakes before then.”

Draco turned his head and raised a brow to Harry. “If the assessment was that hard on him, he might not be awake even after dinner, he needs the rest as much as the food.” Harry just nodded and Draco turned back to his Mother. “How about…? Send an elf if he wakes between now and seven? That would give us time to visit, other wise, we’ll drop in and have lunch with you and Archer, tomorrow? Is that alright?”

“That will be fine, my dragon. Don’t forget to do any reading the Professors ask of you, it does make things easier in the long brew.”

“Yes, Mother. Uncle Sev recommended that we read A-through-D in our Ingredient Encyclopaedia. And Professor Flitwick suggested that our class read the first chapter of our books.”

“That would be a good idea.” Madam Pomfrey agreed.

“We’ve all already read them. So we thought we might go find an empty classroom and set up a study area and schedule. Maybe we can make some notes on some of the charms and potions that interest us, we might be able to use them as examples in essays.” Draco told the two witches.

“Oh… well, yes… that’s a smart thing to do.” Madam Pomfrey stammered.

“Very well, Draco. If Mr Evermond wakes before curfew, I shall send an elf to you. You may not get to speak with him before curfew, but at least you can send him a note.” Narcissa offered.

“Thank you, Mother. Madam Pomfrey.” Draco dipped his head in a bow to them both and retreated. “Alright, Archer’s asleep. What say we go find an empty classroom and set up a study area?” They already had their study room set up, but the staff weren't aware of that.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Hermione nodded.

“You would.” Ron muttered, but without any nastiness.

“Fred, George, you pair get to lead the way.” Harry pointed at the twins.

“Most certainly, Harrikins.” The two redheads spoke together.

“Hermione?” Draco offered the girl his arm.

“Thank you, Draco.” She replied and slid her hand into the crook of his elbow.

“Luna?” Ron copied Draco’s movements.

“Of course, Ronald.” Luna looped her arm through Ron’s and let her hand slid down over his forearm.

Dean and Seamus didn’t speak, but when Harry turned to them, the pair were holding hands. Harry then turned to Neville and was slightly surprised to see Neville standing beside George, his hand resting in the crook of George's elbow.

“Might I offer mine assistance, Master Auror Potter?” Fred raised an eyebrow in challenge to Harry.

Harry responded by giving him a very brilliant and very fake smile. “Most certainly, Mr Weasley.” He watched as Fred took a half step back, before taking a deep breath and stepping forward again, his hand at his waist and his elbow bent towards Harry. Harry let the fake smile fade a little and slipped his hand into the offered space. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” George and Neville lead the group away from the hospital wing and up into the higher reaches of the main Keep.

It took only a few minutes for them to reach the abandoned classroom that the twins had claimed. Once inside Draco summoned a Hogwarts elf and told the elf that they’d ordered their dinners to be sent to the guest infirmary, but that they would now be eating where they were, the elf nodded and popped away after telling them that their meals would be along in a few minutes.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen? Where are we at? Any new developments?” Harry asked, settling himself down at one of the small group of desks.

“Nothing new, Harry. Lucius Malfoy is still the next on our list.” Hermione replied.

Before Harry or Draco, who’d both opened their mouths to speak, could answer, a tapping was heard at a window. When the group looked to that window, their saw one of the school’s post owls sitting on the stone ledge.

“Huh…” Ron huffed. “Now what?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s from Moody.” Harry answered, climbing to his feet and pushed one section of the window open, careful not to knock the owl from it’s perch.

With the window open the owl launched itself back into the air and entered through the opening. Across the room it flew, coming to a rest on a chair beside Draco. A quick tilt of the head and the owl dropped the letter it held in it’s beak, into the blonde’s lap. The moment the letter fell, the owl was in flight and gone. A wave of a wand to check for any hidden charms or hexes and Draco opened the folded sheet of parchment, his eyes flicking back and forth.

“Aw, crap…” He whispered.

“Draco?” Hermione asked.

“How many journals did you order, Hellion?” The blonde asked.

“Two dozen. Why?”

“We're cutting it close, better add another dozen to the list.” Draco handed Harry the note.

**_Malfoy._ **

**_If you remember who the Hogwarts champions were, meet me where the third task started._ **

**_Be there at 6.30pm, today._ **

**_Come alone._ ** **_You don’t want to alarm your dorm-mates, talking to an enemy, do you?_ **

**_The third champion._ **

“Oh Hell.” Harry sighed. “Mione? What’s the time?”

“Ten til six, Harry.” The former Minister for Magic answered.

“Thanks.” Harry started, but paused when bowls of stew and plates of bread began to appear on the desks in front of them. “Alright, we’ve got time to eat and run. The twins are going to show us where the quidditch pitch is.” He handed the note to Hermione and indicated for her to pass it around. Huffs, grunts and snickers came as each person read what was written.

 

At exactly half past six, the ten students emerged from the players’ entrance to the pitch grounds and followed Luna as she danced her way over to a boy sitting off to one side, almost hidden in the shadows of the stands.

“Hello, Cedric Diggory.” She chirped, brightly.

“Hello, Luna Lovegood.” He responded quietly.

“May I introduce my friends?” Luna asked.

“Sure, go ahead.” Cedric may have agreed, but he wasn’t all that enthusiastic.

Luna turned to Harry and raised an eyebrow, he deliberately nodded and with slow but clear motions, retrieved a wand from a holster and cast a number of very complicated and very specific privacy charms.

“Thank you, Harry.” Luna turned back to Cedric. “You know the proprietors of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, Fred and George Weasley, of course. This is their brother and Marketing Manager, Ron. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas are demolitions experts and ward-breakers. Neville Longbottom is the DADA Professor. Draco Malfoy is a Master Healer contracted to St Mungo's. Harry Potter is a Master Auror and Head of the DMLE. Hermione Granger is Minister for Magic. And I am the CoMC Professor.”

“Excuse me…?” Cedric gasped.

“Or we were before we were unceremoniously and without warning, shoved back through time.” Ron added, sourly.

“You…”

“Yep. Us.” Neville gave heaving sigh. “Being eleven, again, is a pain.”

“Puberty is going to suck.” Draco grimaced.

“It was bad enough the first time.” Harry agreed.

“As long as there’s booms, Seamus will be happy.” Dean shook his head.

“All of you?” Cedric looked from one to another.

“And then some.” Harry nodded. “There’s the ten of us, Professor Lupin and his wife, Tonks. Professor McGonagall. Professor Moody. And my godfather.”

“Godfather?”

“Plus Professor Snape and my parents are allied with us.” Draco added.

“Wha…?” Cedric sounded a little faint.

“So far, there are sixteen of us, including you, who have time travelled and three non-travelled allies and one, possibly two, more in the know.” Hermione explained.

“In the know?” Harry asked.

“Andromeda and Ted Tonks.” Was the answer.

“Ah, right. Thank you.” Harry nodded. “So… Cedric. We’ve plans in place to destroy Snake-face’s Horcruxes, remove Dumbledore from Hogwarts and live happily ever after. Are you in?”

“What?” Cedric frowned. “What are Horcruxes?”

Harry bared his teeth. “Right, you weren’t around for that, were you? Right, right. Um… Snake-face… you know who we’re talking about when we say that?” Cedric nodded hesitantly, so Harry went on. “Great. Well, he made these things called Horcruxes, they’re basically containers that hold a small part of his soul, with them he’s pretty much immortal. Even if his body dies, his followers can bring him back.” Harry frowned. “That’s actually what was happening that night. In the graveyard, I mean.”

“Oh, gods.” Cedric whispered.

“Yeah…” Harry sighed. “We know how to destroy them. And we plan to do that, we just have a few things that have to happen before then, they'll be done before Yule. First… Snape and Malfoy, senior that is. They’re both supporting us, so I’m going to remove their DarkMarks. Next… Archer Evermond. Archer is… Well, we used a process from the future to-”

“Harry? Perhaps you’d best explain why the process was created.” Fred cut in.

“Oh… right.” Harry huffed. “We won the war but we lost the future. We lost about a third our population in the war, after your death. Snake-face put some of his people in Hogwarts and they did something, we don’t know what they did, but the result was infertility. A third of the population gone and of those that remained, less than a half were able to reproduce. Currently the average birth rate is roughly forty babies born a month. In the future we came from? Less than that were born in the five years after the war. The Unspeakables came up with a process that included potions and rituals. The idea being to copy a person. An exact copy.” He could see that Cedric wasn’t really understanding. “Alright… Ginny and Michael Corner got married about… 2004?” He asked and Hermione nodded, in reply. “Right, 2004. But they’d both been here at Hogwarts and were both affected by whatever happened, meaning neither could have children, naturally. They applied to adopt a child via the Unspeakables and were approved. They got a girl-child that had been made into an exact copy of Ginny, exact. Right down to the magical signature, the only things carried over were the child’s prior-existing age and medical condition. After that, a simple blood adoption from Michael was enough to alter her magical signature enough to provide a separate identity to Ginny’s. Same when they decided to adopt a boy, he became a copy of Michael.”

“Oh…” now Cedric understood.

“So… Archer Davis Evermond was in St Mungo's, but he was dying and nothing magic or muggle medicine could do, was going to help him. We decided to take advantage of that, we de-aged my godfather to be the same age and made him a copy of Archer. Then we removed the original Archer, whom we now call Davis, from St Mungo's and let him pass peacefully, before placing him in a mortuary stasis.”

“We then left the new Archer **_Darian_**  Evermond in St Mungo's, knowing that he would transferred to Hogwarts shortly after.” Draco took up the story. “But we had to copy some of the poisons that killed Davis and apply them to Archer, otherwise the discrepancies would be too visible. His physical condition, after almost ten years in Azkaban, was poor enough to imitate the severity of Davis’ condition, so we weren’t too concerned about that. But it’s going to take time for him to recover. The poisons are gone, now, but the side-effects of Azkaban will take time to rectify.”

“In short?” Hermione huffed at Draco. “Archer will require a few weeks to recover and Draco and Harry will be seeing to the DarkMarks, while that happens. Then we’ll us a curse-breaking ritual to eliminate Snake-face’s Horcruxes. After that we’re going to remove Dumbledore from Hogwarts.”

“Why…?” Cedric asked slowly.

“Because Dumbledore’ the one responsible for what the future was. He was the one to…” Harry paused and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “He was the one the prophecy was told to. He was the one to cast the Fidelius for my parents. He was the one to have me removed from the ruins of our house. He was the one to place me with abusive people. He was the one to refuse to allow me to be trained. He was the one to refuse me my mail. He was the one to refuse me my birth-right. He was the one to refuse me my magic. He is the one holding control of the wards, here. He knew Quirrell was possessed by something, but did nothing about it. He knew what and where the Chamber of Secrets was, but did nothing about it. He knew my godfather was innocent and did nothing about it. He knew I didn’t enter the tournament, but did nothing about it. He knew a Ministry appointed teacher was torturing students, but did nothing about it. He knows I’m one of Snake-face’s Horcruxes, but he’ll do nothing about it, until it’s too late for any action but my death. Plus he’s been removing gold from my trust vault, since the day my parents were killed.” The calm had disappeared, somewhere around the mention of his 'birth-right'.

Harry heaved a few breaths as he came to the end of his rant.

“Sorry about that, but…”

Cedric just looked at him, his expression slightly shocked.

“Right…” The ‘puff drawled. “Not supporting Dumbledore, then.”

“No. He’s not evil, like Snake-face, he just… Moody called him focused. So focused that he can’t see anything else, even when it’s pointed out to him.” Harry sighed.

“So _**we’re**_ going to remove him? How?” Cedric emphasised the 'we', deliberately.

“We’re going to use muggle drugs, specifically used to treat mental disorders, we’re going to make it look like his age has caught up to him. But they don't work instantly, they have to build up in his system, could take a few months, even a year or more. Like we said… DarkMarks and Archer first, then Horcruxes, then Dumbledore’s going to be the victim of pranking, a lot of pranking, highly visible, highly embarrassing and just this side of vicious. And add in the muggle drugs and he’ll be in hell. But a hell that no one but he can see, hear, taste, touch or smell. He own personal hell.” Neville answered.

“I see.” The older boy said in a thoughtful tone. "I may have a few ideas, to add to your list of pranks, then."

“Moody’s getting me some journals that Hermione is going to charm with a type of protean charm, not the standard sort, though. What’s written in one, is copied into all of them. I’ll see that you get one.” Harry offered.

“I was thinking about that…” Hermione mused.

“Yeah…?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“There’s a second set of charms I’d like to apply, Harry. The first set are the group chat, but there’s a second set that might work too. It would enable us to write to a specific person. Say… I wanted to research something, I could ask the whole group, but I could also ask Moody or Tonks to check in the Ministry Archives, before bringing it to the group.”

“Can both sets of charms be applied to the one journal?” Harry asked.

“Yes, it just means that on the inside of the front cover there will be a number of symbols. One will likely be a drawing or symbol for a group of people. The others will represent each individual, a separate symbol per person.” Hermione explained.

“What type of symbols are you thinking about using?” Harry asked.

“There’s a couple of options. I can stick with a rune, something that we can use to identify us. Or I can use a pictographic symbol. For example, I could use the rune, sowilo, to represent your scar, or I can use a line drawing of one of your Animagus forms, or even the Raiders’ insignia.” Hermione gave three options, before adding, “…or you can come up with something new.”

“Talking of Animagus forms… we need to do that again.” Harry said. “But I’d prefer to have a separate symbol, we’ve no certainty that our Animagi form will still be the same, we’re at a different point in our lives emotionally, if a patronus can change, who’s to say an Animagus form can’t?”

“Er… Excuse me?” Cedric asked. “Animagus? Raiders? Can someone explain? Please?”

The Raiders all looked at each other, before turning to face Hermione.

“Ooh, you… Alright, I’ll explain, but you lot owe me.” She muttered. “Come on, Cedric, let’s sit and I’ll bring you up to date.” She flicked her wand and conjured a blanket up against the wall of the stands. “Gred, Forge. You two have Runes in the morning, you’d best get the first couple of chapters read. The rest of us have potions and you heard Professor Snape, Ron, read the book. Now.” She ordered.

“Yes, Ledger.” Came from most of the gathered students.

“Right. Cedric? Let’s start with the summer after the Tournament, shall we? The 1995/96 school year brought Delores Umbridge, or as we call her Umbitch, to Hogwarts. But that wasn't her first action against one of us. She sent a pair of dementors after…” and so started Cedric’s involvement with the Raiders.

 


	8. Chapter 8

It was Friday, three weeks into term, before Harry and Draco got the chance to sneak out of the school and visit Malfoy manor. Archer’s progress was being carefully monitored by St Mungo's, who came up it the brilliant idea that Archer could be treated as a type of out-patient. He would spend his days in the hospital wing’s guest suite, undergoing various treatments and therapies and would sleep each night in the Gryffindor first year boys’ dorms.

Why would this mean that Harry and Draco couldn’t sneak out? Simple really. St Mungo's placed monitoring charms in the dorm, any student awake for more than half an hour would set the alarm off, bringing either Narcissa Malfoy, Madam Pomfrey or Master Healer Beckett, whoever happened to be on duty that shift. And unfortunately that seemed to be fairly random. The other issue was that the monitor actually registered who was awake and when.

This was not to their benefit. As such, they decided that it was probably better to just wait until Archer was released and the monitor dropped, before venturing out at night.

The journals arrived and Hermione had placed the necessary charms, before handing them over to Harry who had set the password for each journal as that person’s call-sign, in parseltongue. All the Raiders, at Hermione’s request, had let Harry use a form of Legilimency to place a basic understanding of parseltongue in their memories. Within days of arriving at Hogwarts, Fred and Cedric were asking him to do the same for them. Tonks and Remus were a little more hesitant, but once Snape, McGonagall and the Malfoy’s also made the same request as Fred and Cedric, they huffed, but as Moody said, knowledge is power and knowledge of an enemy’s communications infrastructure was a valuable tool.

For the most part they ignored Quirrell and his passenger, instead focusing on Dumbledore. The Headmaster suffered from unrelenting pranks, but not once did Dumbledore look to the twins or the first years. As first or even third years, none of them should have had the knowledge of the spells and charms needed to get the results that happened. Alternating colour changing charms weren’t taught until fifth year. Animation charms were a sixth year lecture. Depilation charms weren’t taught at Hogwarts at all. Neither were spells to enchant objects. Or any charm removal classes. Illusions were a NEWT subject and not started until the second half of seventh year. And most of the pranks had timed releases or ignitions, which again weren’t taught at Hogwarts.

So, Dumbledore never looked at the Raiders or their allies, they were just too young. Oh, he’d  had a passing thought that it resembled the types of pranks that the Marauders got up to, in their last year, but the Marauders were gone, Black was in Azkaban, Pettigrew and Potter had been dead for a decade and Lupin was heaven knows where. Now… if Harry Potter had been raised by his parents or Black, that might have been a different story, but he wasn’t. And he wasn’t in contact with the only surviving Marauder, but then… Lupin wasn’t really one for pranks, not like the rest of them.

Or so Dumbledore told himself.

He was sadly mistaken. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were the masterminds behind most of the pranks the Marauders did at school. Partnering the former Sirius Black, now Archer Evermond, with Remus Lupin, the Weasley twins and Harry Potter? McGonagall and Snape looked at each other and shuddered at the thought. Both knew full well the carnage the Marauders could cause and both knew the things the twins had done in their two years at Hogwarts, but McGonagall also knew what the twins did in their later years and the hell that Harry could create all by himself.

Dumbledore’s robes turned black, he started to see dead people, not ghosts as no one but he could see them. The statues and suites of armour started to turn away from him, when he approached. The portraits would talk until he got close, then fall silent until he was passed, the occupants refusing to look in his direction. The flagstones became uneven, but only to him, no one else suffered. Chairs would sigh and groan, whenever he sat down. Goblets and plates would vanish his food and drinks before he was finished with them. His pensieve would spit out his memories before he could view them. His shoes would make gagging noises when he put them on and whimper and curl up when he took them off at night.

But the worst of all was his wand. It worked for him, but reluctantly, and with each day, it got heavier in his hand, forcing him to cast featherweight charms on it. And it was showing no signs of stopping. If it continued like this, he would be driven to leaving it in his quarters and glamouring his old Ollivander wand, in it’s place.

On their return from Malfoy Manor, Harry and Draco grinned at McGonagall and Snape as they passed the Professors on their nightly patrols.

“Back, I see.” Snape intoned.

“No trouble, I hope?” McGonagall added.

“No, no trouble.” Harry shook his head.

“No, just Father realising that Harry’s a lot more skilled than he thought.” Draco added. “And he’s not too happy that he’s going to be bedridden for a few days.”

“The alternative is not pleasant.” Snape said.

“Yeah and Mum reminded him of that. He grunted and told Harry to get on with it.” Draco replied.

“So it is done?” McGonagall asked.

“Yep. All gone, now.” Harry yawned. “And I’m for bed, that knocks me about.”

“I have scheduled your class to attempt a numbing balm, on Monday.” Snape frowned. “Will you be recovered by then?”

“Yeah. I’m going to sleep in, in the morning, by lunchtime, I’ll be fine.” Harry leant against the wall and yawned again.

“Very well. Take him away, Draco, he needs to sleep.” Snape directed.

 

Morning came and went and while Harry missed breakfast, he was seated between Archer and Fred, come lunch.

“Cedric wants to speak to us.” Hermione informed them when she laid down her knife and fork.

“Any idea why?” Neville asked.

“No, he didn’t say why, just that it wasn’t urgent.”

“Okay, let him know we’re heading to the study room, if he wants to meet up.” Harry replied.

“Certainly, Harry.” She scribbled a note in her journal and cast a nonchalant glance around the Great Hall. “He says, ‘yes please’ and will meet us there in half an hour.”

“Right, shall we go then?” Draco asked.

“I think we’d best.” Hermione answered and packed her journal away in her bag.

Draco stood and offered her a hand, she accepted and within seconds the group were departing the Hall. Harry and Neville surreptitiously provided support to Archer, his still weak legs not quite secure under him. By the time the trio had reached the rooms that Fred and George had commandeered, Hermione or Draco had either conjured a sofa or requested the elves provide one and they herded the boy in it’s direction.

“I am so tired of being sick.” Archer moaned.

“You’re not sick, Archer, you’re recovering from injury.” Harry corrected.

“Now that you’ve been released by St Mungo's, we can speed your recovery.” Draco offered.

“How?” Archer tilted his head to the side.

“Time turner.” Was all Hermione said.

“Or potions.” Draco added. “Unfortunately, we can’t really do both. Oh we could but, that would raise questions. Potions are a safer option, for the moment. My being Sev’s godson, I can ask him if nutrient potions will help, or nerve-regeneration potions, or a number of other potions. And if I do it in class, there’s a backstory, just in case St Mungo's or Dumbledore asks. You’ll still have to do a lot of work, physically, but the potions will help significantly.”

“I agree.” Harry said. “Using a time turner is great, but we need plausibility and a documented history, something we can’t get with time turners. Sorry, Mione.”

“No problem, Harry, just a thought, but yeah… plausibility is vital when dealing with Dumbledore.” The girl replied.

A soft chime rang and the Raiders all pulled out a book or parchment and quill. Harry and Hermione’s monitoring charms alerting them of a non-allied person entering the corridor their room was in. A few moments later, Cedric and Dumbledore appeared in the open door.

“Oh, my…” Dumbledore beamed at them, stepping into the room, closely followed by Cedric. “What a lovely little space you’ve made here.” He wandered around the room, looking at the shelves and the books there. “Are these library books?” He asked.

“No, sir.” George answered. “They’re ours. Or… rather, they’re our brothers’ old books and ours, too. We asked for Mum to send them to us, we told her we were making a study group and that the books would be helpful.”

“I’m sure they will be, Mr Weasley.” Dumbledore studied the covers. “All seven years? What of Percival’s books?”

“No, sir. Percy’s got his own, we all put in a few coins and bought all the old books off him, enough that he can buy new ones.” Fred explained.

“Why not just buy new ones for yourselves?” Dumbledore asked.

“We thought about it, but Bill and Charlie made notes in them, we kind of thought… Percy’s a prat at times and we figured that if he wanted their help he wouldn’t have grumbled about having their old books.” George said.

“Mum even sent us Bill and Charlie’s old study notes, not their actual essays and assignments, but their research notes. We sorted them by subject and year and placed them into folios, for easy access.” Ron added, earnestly.

“It means we don’t have to go to the library as often, we know that we have the information here, we just have to sift through it, to find what’s relevant to the particular assignment we’re working on.” Hermione added.

“We all put in books, sir. It makes it easier for us, we don’t all work on the same thing at the same time, so Archer not having books yet, doesn’t matter, there’s always one there for him to read. And Fred and George, if they want to check something from a previous year, they can, they don’t have to owl Mum and ask her to send their old school stuff, it’s already here.” Ron said.

“I see… And Mr Diggory?”

“Luna and I live within a few minutes walk of the Weasley’s, sir. I’ve known them for as long as I can remember.” Cedric frowned. “I think Bill might even have babysat me when I was little…”

“And we’re in many of the same classes. So, of course we told him what we were doing. If he wanted to join us, he was welcome.” Fred said.

“You didn’t do this last year, though.” Dumbledore stated.

“No, we didn’t. We did think about it, but until Ron and these others started, we really weren’t sure it was a good idea.” George added.

“But Hermione, Harry and Draco convinced them it was.” Ron snickered. “They were all for taking over the common room, but Fred and George warned that it wouldn’t go down well with some of our housemates, so we went looking for an empty room that we could use.”

“The house-elves cleaned it up and found the desks and chairs.” Neville said quietly. “Then the twins mentioned books, so the elves brought us some shelves.”

“And when I was let out of the hospital wing, they added a sofa for me.” Archer joined in.

“I see… and is your group open to others, or is it just for yourselves?”

“Oh, no, anyone can come here, but if they want to borrow a book, they have to leave one in it’s place and return it within twenty-four hours. And no library books, all the books here are owned by us and no study notes can leave the room. No snacks or drinks near the books and we all put in a few coins to pay for any snacks. We have a small collection of stationery, everyone puts in a bit and can take what they need, they just have to replace it or pay for it to be replaced.” Hermione lectured. “Letters can be sent from here, Harry’s and Draco’s owls are happy to deliver letters for any of us, but we have to buy their treats.”

“We thought about inviting the Ravenclaws, but they have their own library and the Slytherins won’t come near us. So that just leaves the Puffs.” Fred shrugged.

“We started with Cedric cause… well... we know him, by the end of the year, there’ll probably be more of them.” George said.

“And your own house?” Dumbledore asked.

“They know, we told them, but mostly they don’t care, they might when it gets closer to exams, though. Percy thinks we’re all idiots and won’t lower himself to study with us, but that’s his problem, not ours.” Ron huffed. “He’s always thought we were stupid, we’re not, we just like to have fun together.”

“How does he think we can pull off our pranks?” Fred went on a little rant. “Changing someone’s hair or skin colour for an hour? That’s a third year potion. We did that in first year. Make a book sprout wings? That’s a fourth year charm, right? Did that to him last week. We could probably pass our OWLs right now… maybe not all O’s, but A’s and E’s? Yeah sure, we could do that.”

Fred’s rant told the Headmaster, that he and his twin were well advanced on their year mates, but not enough to pull the pranks that the Headmaster had been suffering from. This permanently removed the twins from his list of possible suspects.

“And the first years?”

“Oh, no, none of us would want to try for our OWLs, not now, Headmaster.” Hermione exclaimed, careful not say that if they did try, they’d pass.

“No, they’re not at that level, not right now.” Cedric added. “But we’ll help them. Hermione, Ron, Neville and Draco could probably sit the first year exams… at least the theory ones, practical? That’s another thing. Harry and Archer, though? Sure, Harry’s got a lot of books, but I don’t think he’s read them all, yet.”

“Nope, not yet.” Harry grinned. “But I’ll get there.”

“You’ve lots of books, Harry? Hagrid told me you only got the listed books.” _Oh dear, that might be a problem._

“Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon let me ride into London with them, the day after Mr Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley. They had to take Dudley to see a specialist, about getting the piggy tail, that Mr Hagrid gave him, removed.”

“Piggy tail?” Dumbledore blinked in confusion.

“Uh huh, we hadn’t had any dinner that night and Mr Hagrid brought me my first ever birthday cake and Dudley was eating it, so Mr Hagrid pulled out this pink umbrella and pointed it at Dudley and it gave him a piggy tail.” Harry said, all innocent and sweet.

“Oh… I see.” _Blast you, Hagrid._

“Yeah! So, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were taking him to London to see some specialist and said I couldn’t stay at home by myself. They dropped me outside the Leaky Cauldron and I went into the Alley. I didn’t have much money so I went to the second-hand book shop and the wizard there was happy to help me, I got lots of books and he told me I could get a special trunk that would hold just books, but when the man at the trunk shop told me how much it was, I didn’t have enough money, so I just went to the furniture shop and got some shelves to got in my trunk.”

“Shelves? To go in your trunk?”

“Yeah, my trunk was empty when I got it, but with shelves I can hold all my stuff, for school and for… home.” Harry paused slightly before saying the word home. “I was just going to put shelves around the walls, but the lady at the magical furniture shop suggested that I keep a little space clear for a couple of chairs and a desk. She made me some shelves that go along one wall and come out into the… the…the room, I suppose it is, to make a little alcove of shelves. Then she found this old set of drawers that I can use for my clothes and another set of shelves to keep my potions stuff on. It’s so cool.” Harry gushed, excitedly.

Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment. _Oh, dear. This is not good, not good at all._

“I see, that sounds like a very interesting trunk. Would you… Would you show me? Just to make sure that it’s safe? Some people like to take advantage of a young person. I’m not saying that they have, but it does happen.”

“Sure.” Harry knew that Dumbledore wouldn’t see anything that Harry didn’t want him to. “Can I ask an elf to bring it here? It’s a long way back to the dorms and it would take me while to get there and back.” Harry used his big green eyes to his advantage.

Dumbledore chuckled and nodded. “Of course you may. Bitty?” A neatly dressed she-elf popped into the room, in front of Dumbledore. “Ah, Bitty, Mr Potter has a request to make of you. You may accept his order.”

“Yes, Headmaster.” The elf squeaked.

“Hello, Bitty.” Harry waved. “Could you bring my trunk here? It’s beside my bed in the dorm, it’s standing up against the wall, like a door.”

The elf nodded shyly and popped away. Before Harry had time to count to three, she was back, his trunk beside her.

“Thank you, Bitty. Headmaster? Can I ask Bitty to take my trunk back to my dorm, later? We were going to do some advance reading for potions, we’ve a double on Monday. And it would be so much quicker to have Bitty take it, than to shrink it and take it back to the dorm, before dinner.” Harry did his best to act innocent and sweet. “Archer’s not all that sure on his feet yet and Neville and I are his crutches today.”

Dumbledore smiled down at the raven headed boy. _He’s so sweet and kind, maybe him befriended these children isn’t such a bad thing, if he must be sacrificed to destroy Tom, wouldn’t it be better for him to do so, willingly? And what else but the love of such friends would make him so willing?_

“Of course you may, my boy.” Dumbledore nodded, every inch of him portraying the benevolent grandfather. “Now, how about you show me your trunk, just so we can be certain that no one’s done the wrong thing? Yes?”

“Yes, Headmaster.” Harry ducked his head, shyly. He laid his hand on the trunk and took a deep breath. “Headmaster Dumbledore is added to the wards.”

Dumbledore managed to withhold his reaction, he knew that Harry had no idea that he’d just given the Headmaster free access to his personal space, but Dumbledore did. And as far as he was concerned that was excellent news.

Harry entered the door-like trunk and seemed to welcome the Headmaster to join him. Dumbledore stood in a small space, perhaps ten foot square. Beside the trunk’s entrance, to the left, was a desk and office-type chair, on the opposite side of the door was a set drawers, then bookshelves went down that wall to the corner, they went around that corner and back into the space, forming a small nook. The wall on the other side of the desk, held a more industrial-type of shelving, holding Harry's telescope and all his potions equipment, such as it was. The back wall between that and the bookshelves held a potions ingredients store-cupboard that was mostly empty, just the few first-year-approved ingredients, neatly slotted into their marked spaces. In front of that was a pile of old cushions that seemed out of place.

“Interesting…” Dumbledore muttered. The trunk was more than he’d have liked Harry to have, but not nearly as much as he’d feared it might be. “What made you get an expanded trunk, Harry?”

“Mr Hagrid said that I needed a decent trunk, but that the money in my vault was all I had, so I shouldn’t waste it. I couldn’t see how one trunk could hold all the stuff that I would need for school, so I asked the man at the trunk shop about it and he told me there were many different types of trunks, some are the same size inside as outside, some are bigger on the inside, some have lots of compartments and some even have houses in them. I’d been going to buy a simple trunk, one that was the same size inside as outside, but then I though about it, how I was going to be getting new stuff every year and more each time, a same size trunk wouldn’t have enough space for everything. The trunk man suggested a multi-compartment trunk, but that was too expense, I didn’t think I had that much money, so he told me about expanded trunks, about the different sizes and how much each size was and about the different protections they could have. I chose this size, cause it’s big enough to be like a small storage room. And cause I have to stay in the muggle world, he suggested a weak muggle-based notice-me-not, my family know it’s there and can see it, but it’s unimportant to them. And the wards mean that no one can break into my trunk and take my school stuff, either. And cause I’m small, he put shrinking and feather-light charms on it, too.” Harry babbled. “When I went back to Diagon, i shrunk it and carried it in my pocket. I went to the second-hand bookshop and the wizard told me about library trunks, I aksed the trunk man about getting one, but they were **_sooo_**  expensive, so the he told me to go and see the furniture shop. The lady there had these bookshelves, they came from a bigger library and are connected, to each other and to that little stand there. I can put a book on the stand and the charms tell me if I already have a copy and if I do, which one is the better copy to keep. I can write subject or a book title on the notepad and the charms will bring the book to the shelf on the stand. It’s sooo cool.”

Dumbledore nodded at the excited boy. This wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d feared. He could work with this.

“I see. I had worried that the shopkeepers might have pushed you into spending more than you needed to, but I must say, you’ve been very good, Harry. A trunk like this can be used for your entire time here at Hogwarts. And beyond.”

“I know.” Harry beamed and almost bounced on his toes.

“I see that you’ve still got some books in here, not out in… your study room? Is that what you’re calling it?”

“I know.” Harry nodded. “But we’ve got so many copies of the first year books. The man at the second-hand bookshop sold me a trunk full of books, for next to nothing, he said he had so many copies, that he was just tossing them in the trunk without sorting them. I sorted them out at… home, into subject and year and condition, then I put aside the best copies for myself and the ones good condition went in a box and the ones in bad condition we’ll use as practice for transfiguration. I’ll let my dorm-mates and housemates know what I’ve got in the second box and if they want they can buy books to keep for themselves.”

 _That would give the boy a stronger connection with the students and make him even more likely to be a willing sacrifice, if encouraged the right way._  Dumbledore thought.

“As long as you’re fair about it, my boy, I see no reason why you can’t. And as for your trunk? I would prefer you not to make any further alterations to the wards, while you’re here at Hogwarts. You don’t want your friends to become jealous, that you’ve something got they haven’t.”

“No, Headmaster.” Harry assured him. “I don’t.”

“Very good. Let’s head back out, shall we? Then you can get back to your studies, but don’t forget to have some fun too, it is the weekend after all.”

“We won’t.” Harry ducked his head again, causing Dumbledore to smile indulgently at him.

 _He is a good child, such a pity he must die._ The old man thought sadly.

 

**_BOO-OOM!_ **

The explosion blasted the table into Neville and Seamus, knocking them into the back wall, while the cauldron launched itself into the air, the liquid inside blasted into the room, most of it hitting Professor Snape, fair in the face, but the excess also hit students. Snape hit the ground in an unarticulated sound of pain, Theo Nott caught by Snape’s collapse, went down with him, Pansy Parkinson was the next to fall, the blue liquid covering her face and Lavender Brown screamed as she tried to shake the clinging liquid off of her hand.

“Uncle Sev!” Draco’s voice rode over Lavender’s screams and he abandoned his own cauldron to dash to his godfather’s side as Snape lay on the floor, unconscious, his hands and legs moving, uncontrollably.

Within seconds, Ron Weasley had taken control of the room.

“Zabini! Go to the hospital, get the nurse. Crabbe! Get Professor McGonagall. Dunbar! Get the Headmaster. Draco! Hold his head. Harry! Hold his arm. Dean! The other arm. Davis! Greengrass! Help Parkinson, don’t rinse the potion off, we don’t know what water will do to it. Hermione! Patil! See to Brown. Kellah! Bulstrode! Check on Neville and Seamus, if they’re bleeding, hold a robe on it. Goyle! Help me hold the Professor’s legs. Move! **_Now!”_**

Within seconds, students were mobilised, automatically going where Ron had told them. Harry had hold of Snape’s left arm, his fingers completely covering the sleeve that covered the DarkMark. The groans, whimpers, cries and voices of the other students covered the noise as Harry hissed in parseltongue. The nerves and muscles in Snape’s arm and upper body jumped and twisted, trying to get away from the pain Harry was causing, but with Snape unconscious, the students were able to overwhelm his body and hold it down. The twitches eased to spasm, just seconds before Madam Pomfrey and the Headmaster entered the classroom, still running.

“Step back children.” Pomfrey ordered, as she entered the room and was surprised when none of them moved, all of them looking to Ron for direction.

“Don’t move. Not yet.” Ron said sharply. “Not until we know he can’t hurt himself.”

Pomfrey blinked, then nodded. “Yes, yes, that’s quite correct. Albus? A containment shield, please. Close to his skin and hold it rigid, don’t let him move.” She turned from looking at Dumbledore to face Ron. “Who else got hurt and what have you done, so far?”

“Done nothing. Just held him. Nott got pulled down by Professor Snape, he appears to be shaken but not hurt, could be wrong, though. Parkinson got the potion on her face, Brown got it on her hands, Neville and Seamus got knocked into the wall by the desk. I told Davis, Greengrass, Patil and Hermione not to wash it off, water might make it worse. I’ve been on the receiving end of the twins’ pranks before and I know that sometimes water can make potions worse.”

“Very good, Mr…?”

“Weasley, ma'am, Ron Weasley.”

“Ah, those twins. Very good Mr Weasley, fifty points for keeping your head under pressure.” The medi-witch said. “Have you any interest in healing, Mr Weasley?” In between comments, Madam Pomfrey was waving her wand and casting diagnosis charms over Snape.

“Not really, ma'am. I just know what potions explosions are like and how to deal with the fallout. Joys of having the twins as brothers.” Ron answered. “They’re going to have their own shop one day and I’m going to manage the business side of it, while they create the pranks to fill it.”

“Well, if you ever change your mind, let me know.” She sighed.

“Yes, ma'am. But Draco’s the one that wants to be a healer, really.”

“Ah, then send him to see me, once this quiets down.” She nodded to Dumbledore. “Alright, children, you can let go now. Albus, he can be moved to the hospital wing. Ask Lady Malfoy to tend him, do it politely, please. And I’ll see to the children. Once they’re all in the hospital, I’ll consult with Lady Malfoy, we may need someone from St Mungo's. In the mean time, this classroom is to be locked down. Neither you, nor I, have Severus’ skill in identifying potions, we’d be best to leave any investigation in his hands.”

“He will recover?” Dumbledore spoke for the first time since entering the room.

“He will, I’ll know more after a more thorough assessment, but yes, he’ll recover. Right now, he’s suffering magical exhaustion, how that happened? I don’t know. Now, take him to the hospital while I see to the children.”

“Of course, Poppy.” Dumbledore nodded and with a quiet, ‘ _mobilicorpus’_  and a wave of his wand, Snape floated in front of the Headmaster as he left the room.

Pomfrey turned back to the students. “Anyone bleeding?” A round of shaking heads. “Right, then. Who got potion in the face?”

“Miss Parkinson, ma'am.” Ron and Draco answered together.

 

After their last class of the day, the Gryffindor firsties made their way to the hospital wing. Draco ducked his around the edge of the guest suite’s doors and looked pleadingly at his Mother.

“Draco…” She sighed.

“Please, Mother?” He begged.

“I can only ask, my dragon.”

Draco beamed at his Mother. “Thank you, Mother.”

Seconds ticked into minutes before Lady Malfoy returned, followed closely by Madam Pomfrey.

“You’re very lucky Mr Malfoy.” Madam Pomfrey stated in her typically brisk manner. “If Professor Snape’s injuries hadn’t occurred in your class, both I and the Headmaster would have denied your request. As it is… we were hesitating, until Professor Snape gave his permission. He is allowing you and your… class, five minutes to visit he and the other students. I trust that you will behave acceptably?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“I would suggest that you will notify your other classmates, Draco?” Narcissa Malfoy asked.

“We will, Mother. We plan to go to the Slytherin common room, right now. We wanted to find out how Uncle Sev, Miss Brown and Miss Parkinson were, before we asked if they were allowed visitors.” Draco nodded. “We thought we had best check before we told the other students, that we wanted to visit.”

“Ah… We only have permission to give you a brief outline. Miss Parkinson has been treated for contact with the unknown potion, she’s showing signs of a quick recovery. Mr Nott has a fractured wrist that is currently being treated, thankfully that is the extent of his injuries. Miss Brown has dislocated a number of fingers in her haste to remove the potion from them and is still being seen by a St Mungo's healer. Professor Snape, bore the brunt of the potion and is suffering in silence, as I would expect of him, however he has intermittent muscle spasms and tremors and I would like him to stay here for a few days. Just until the tremors have eased.”

“Thank you very much, Madam Pomfrey, Mother.” Draco sighed, he knew in his head that it would work, but Sev was his godfather and Draco knew how painful the process was.

 “Very well, Draco, return in half an hour and you’ll be allowed in.” Narcissa waved them away.

“Come on.” Draco pulled them down the corridor a little, but still close enough that any adults standing just inside the hospital doors, could hear them. “Luna, Ron? You go to the Gryffindor common room, tell any first years that we can visit those in the hospital wing, but we’ve only been allowed five minutes to see them. Neville, you’re Heir Longbottom, will you come with me to the Slytherin common room entrance?”

“Of course, Draco.” Neville nodded. “You know I will.”

“The rest of us will stay here, we can catch anyone else that tries to visit before they upset Madam Pomfrey.” Hermione offered.

“That’d great, thanks Mione.” Draco smiled at her. “Let’s go, then.” He and Neville went down the corridor to the right, while Luna and Ron went to the left.

 

Two hours later, the time-travelled students met in their commandeered classroom. With them was Professor McGonagall and Narcissa Malfoy, who were there to represent the adults that were unable to attend.

“We need Dumbledore to be so focused on Snape, that we won’t even be considered.” Ron said.

“Excuse me?” Cedric held up a hand. “What if we were to do it, at exactly the same time as the explosion?”

“No, not exactly, but while Dumbledore and Pomfrey were tending to Snape, in the classroom. If we’re all there, how can we be held responsible? And that’s assuming that he senses anything.” Harry asked.

“Can we do that?” Cedric asked. “Time-wise? Do we know what time it was?”

“Yes.” Dean answered. “I wrote the time down just as the explosion happened. See?” He held up a sheet of parchment and everyone there could see that the notation _‘added gurdy roots 12.26’_ , with the last number being distorted as Dean’s quill had scraped across the page.

“Great, thanks Dean.” Draco sighed. “That was my biggest concern, getting the timing wrong.”

“Not anymore.” Harry laughed.

“Draco, Luna and I have altered the original ritual, just slightly. We didn’t want all the soul-shards reacting at the same time, so our alteration nominates only the closest shard and for each pass of the ritual, only that shard will be called. Plus we added that the Diary is the anchor, so the other shards will be absorbed by it.” Hermione said. “We didn’t want a large piece trying to settle into Harry and possessing him.”

“Okay and what about Quirrell? How are we going to do that?” Neville asked.

“Well, it’s dinner right now. What if we were to catch him right after dinner, stun him and drop a soul binding on him, within a containment shield?” Ron asked.

“Stunning the host, means Snake-face can’t possess him. A soul binding means Snake-face can’t just abandon him. And a containment shield means that even if he did manage to escape from Quirrell, he’s still stuck. And the explosion happened in our class, we can’t be in two places at once, as far as they know. Mione? Draco? Any objections?” Harry asked.

The other two tilted their heads in identical movements and shrugged.

“No… No, I don’t think so. Draco?” Hermione pursed her lips as she answered.

“No, that should work fine. I like the soul binding, Ron.” The two weren’t friends, not really, but they had learned to appreciate the other’s mind and friendship with Harry and Hermione. Plus, Ron had been really glad of Draco’s medical training a few times.

“We need to do this as two separate exercies, one grabbing Quirrell and two, the Horcruxe ritual. And that means using the turners, for both. The ritual? Best to do that when our un-turned selves are in the classroom in front of Dumbledore and the other students.” Ron added.

“And Quirrell? We can’t possibly have attacked Quirrellmort if we’re in the Great Hall, having dinner, at the same time.” Fred beamed at Ron.

“Precisely. And I think it needs to be Neville and Hermione.” Ron replied.

“Why?” George asked.

“Because so far, Neville hasn’t shown much in the way of magical strength and Hermione’s only a muggleborn.” Ron explained. “As far as Quirrellmort is concerned, Neville’s useless and Hermione’s worthless.”

All of them, including McGonagall and Narcissa just looked at the redhead, he’d completely pegged Quirrellmort in one sentence.

“Well…” Narcissa whispered. “I’d not thought of it like that…”

“No, but that doesn’t make it any less true.” Hermione huffed in disgust.

They thought about that for a few minutes, before Ron placed a goblet of pumpkin juice on the table they were using as a work surface. It sat under a three dimensional version of the Marauders’ map, that floated in the air above the table. The ghostly image of the castle was quite small in comparison to the actual castle, but it was still six foot from the edge of the Great Hall to the Portcullis Keep and five foot from the Greenhouses to the Clock Tower Courtyard and somewhere around four foot tall at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Inside the semi-transparent image, small coloured dots were moving.

These dots represented the students and staff. Each student was shown as a blob of coloured light, the colour depending on their house and the size depending on their year. The staff were shown as a pale grey light, however the heads of house were streaked with the colour of their house. Even the house-elves were shown, lighting up in a darker grey, while visitors were a bright purple.

No names shone, but under the castle, there was an image of a sheet of parchment and quill. This was used to ‘write’ a person’s name for the map to display their whereabouts or the quill was used to tap a light and the parchment showed the details of that person.

“So, what’s your plan, Ronald?” Narcissa asked.

“We all go to dinner, four people turn back to half an hour before dinner starts, we don’t know exactly what time Quirrellmort will leave the Hall, so we have to allow a little extra time, just in case.” Ron answered. “I think the empty classroom at the base of the Tower Bridge should be our turning point. Neville can stun Quirrellmort and Hermione can add the binding and containment shield, she’s better at those, than anyone but Harry. Then the four get him into the room. Disillusion him and yourselves, turn back to midday and head to the RoR, where the rest of us will be waiting.”

There were a number of nodding heads.

“Now, because we’re not destroying any Horcruxes just yet, Quirrell, himself, shouldn’t be affected by the summoning ritual, not until we get to the piece that’s in him. But with the containment shield, he shouldn’t be able to react, anyway. Once Snake-face’s out of Quirrell, if Quirrell is still alive, we can obliviate him of the last few years and dump him somewhere public. Maybe Diagon or muggle London, but I think Hogsmeade’s too close.” Hermione was writing down Ron’s speech in bullet-point notes, as he spoke. “Then we have to head for the Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk.”

“I’ve been thinking about that…” Harry put in. “I’m thinking that each of us needs to go through the goblin-made weapons that Snape, Remus, Tonks and I pulled out of the RoR and choose at least two blades, each. Blades that can be infused with basilisk venom.”

“We can get the goblins to render it down, too. Basilisk meat is a delicacy to them.” Luna offered. “Then sell the rest.”

“And we can open a vault for the Raiders, with the proceeds.” Hermione suggested.

“How many of us are there, now?” Harry asked.

“You, Draco, Hermione, Ronald, Luna, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Fred, George, Cedric, Remus, Tonks, Moody, Minerva and Archer.” Narcissa answered. “Sixteen.”

“Sixteen… plus Snape, you and your husband. Nineteen.” Harry hummed for a minute or two. “I’m going to suggest that we do like Luna said and get it rendered down… but we split the proceeds up. Split it into twenty-five equal parts. One for each of us, one for the communal use and hold the other five in reserve, just for the moment. We don’t really know if we’re it, or if there’s more of us out there, that just don’t know about us and think they’re on their own.”

“That’s a… that’s a god idea, Harry.” Hermione blinked at him.

“Always the tone of surprise.” Ron snickered.

“Oh, lay off, Ron.” Hermione smacked at Ron’s shoulder. “But, yes, holding ʛalleons in reserve is good. I do think, though… that we should have new vaults opened for the basilisk money. Letting family get their hands on it, could be disastrous.”

Dean nodded, his Mother would spend it in a heartbeat, just as Seamus’ Father would. And Molly Weasley? The boys wouldn’t see a δickle of it. Then there was Harry. If his muggle family knew, they’d take the lot and leave him with nothing, again, but if Dumbledore knew, he’d be the one to take it. And who knew how Lady Longbottom would react? Probably claim Neville was too immature to have it and toss it all into the main estate vault, the one she never wanted Neville to have access to.

“So what’s the suggestion for naming the vaults, the goblins will insist on a name.” George wanted to know.

“Well, because Dumbledore doesn’t even know what my full name is, I thought, I might go with only part of my name and add in my Marauder name. Evan James Hellion.” Harry answered.

“Ooh nice.” Hermione exclaimed. “In that case, I’m Wilhelmina Jean Ledger.” When a few blank looks met Hermione’s comment, she sighed. “Wilhelmina for William, I was named for a character created by William Shakespeare.”

“Oh… of course.” Dean nodded. “Why didn’t I pick up on that earlier? Oh and I’ll be Chadwick Thomas Easel. My Mother’s maiden name is Chadwick.”

“Fergus Lloyd Rumble.” Seamus added. “My middle name, Da’s middle name and Rumble is the closest to my call-sign I can get.”

The names kept coming. The final list was, not including their chosen middle names… Harry as Evan Hellion, Ron as Rook Boardman, Neville as Neil Rapier, Draco as Hunter Lancet, Seamus as Fergus Rumble, Dean as Chadwick Easel, Hermione as Wilhelmina Ledger, Luna as Star Faye, George as Gerard Caper and Fred as Faraday Caper, Archer as Darius Arrow, Cedric as Samuel Victor and McGonagall as Isobel McDougal.

They would ask Tonks, Remus and Snape later, while Narcissa would confer with Lucius that evening. It was also decided that each of them would hand a portion of their funds to Lucius to invest on their behalf.

“Alright, we’ve got that sorted out. Everyone but Hermione, Neville, Seamus and Dean, head up to the RoR. We’ll get ready for the ritual and be ready to start as soon as you lot arrive.” Harry ordered. The four in question nodded and left the classroom, heading in the direction of the Great hall.

“Are you sure they’re capable of capturing Quirrell?” Narcissa asked.

“They’ll be fine. If I didn’t think they were capable, I wouldn’t have sent them.” Harry answered.


	9. Chapter 9

_“Alright, we’ve got that sorted out. Everyone but Hermione, Neville, Seamus and Dean, head up to the RoR. We’ll get ready for the ritual and be ready to start as soon as you lot arrive.” Harry ordered. The four in question nodded and left the classroom, heading in the direction of the Great hall._

_“Are you sure they’re capable of capturing Quirrell?” Narcissa asked._

_“They’ll be fine. If I didn’t think they were capable, I wouldn’t have sent them.” Harry answered._

 

The four Quirrellmort-nappers watched the DADA Professor leave the Great Hall from dinner and nodded to each other. One by one they cast their strongest and most complex disillusionment charms on themselves, not forgetting to link them together, so they could see each other. Then it was a case of getting into just the right position to nab the possessed Professor.

They were spread out a little, Hermione was on the steps of the grand staircase, but that wasn’t where they were planning their ambush. That was to happen at the base of the DADA tower, near the stairs up to the DADA rooms. Seamus and Dean had put up Filch’s rarely used cleaning signs, directing the students coming from the Middle Courtyard, the Training Tower, the Dark Tower or the Long Gallery and Greenhouses, that the base of the DADA tower was closed for cleaning and to go around via the Dark Tower, Central Tower and Viaduct Entrance.

It would down to Dean and Seamus to ensure that no one saw, thankfully it was dinner time and stragglers were few and far between.

For now, Neville was crouched on the first landing, six feet up the stairs, waiting. Their plan was for Hermione to follow Quirrellmort and hit him with the binding charm and containment shield the moment he turned the corner to the stairs and Neville would hit him with a stunner at the same time. The timing of the hits were in the hands of Dean, who both Hermione and Neville would be able to see.

The seconds ticked away and the tension should have been palpable, but wasn’t. This wasn’t an unusual situation for the Raiders, nabbing the bad guys, as Luna called them, without warning was a fairly standard tactic for the TRTs, as the Terror Response Teams were called within the Ministry. Neither was it all that unusual to find the Minister for Magic being called from some boring meeting to join her team in the field. It certainly kept her in fighting form and made some of the idiots she had to deal with on a daily basis, think twice before opening their months.

Quirrellmort left the suspension bridge and entered the Middle Keep, of which the DADA tower formed the south-west corner tower. The moment he stepped through the archway from the Keep, towards the stairs to the tower, Dean held up a hand, with three fingers up. As he counted down, he folded a finger down, when he got to zero, he pointed at Quirrellmort and like they’d practiced for months, Neville and Hermione cast their spells at the same time, Hermione having chained the binding charm and the containment shield together, they would leave her wand at the same time, with Neville’s stunner to hit him exactly as he lit up with Hermione’s spells.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Practice makes perfect, after all.

The four stood over the Professor and together cast a disillusionment charm on him, again linked to theirs, followed by a quiet ‘ _mobilicorpus’_. Then it was simply a case of spinning their time turners and making their way through an almost empty castle, to the RoR to meet the rest of the group.

The tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy had an owl feather hanging from the lower left corner, a sign to the Raiders and their allies that one of their allies was in the RoR and waiting for them. A tap and the small nondescript, classroom-type door opened.

“Any issues?” Harry greeted them with.

“No, all according to plan.” Neville replied.

“Cool, bring him in, toss him in that corner.” Harry Pointed off to the left. “Draco’s got that shielded, as soon as Quirrellmort is across that line, the shield will activate and he’ll be stuck until we let him leave.”

“Right.” Neville floated the unconscious Professor over to the narrow camp cot and lowered him to it.

“Has Draco decided who’s going to be a part of the ritual?” Hermione asked.

“Yep.” Harry answered. “Almost everyone. Snape, Lucius, Mad-Eye, Remus, Tonks and Archer are the only ones to sit this out. Archer’s here, Lady Narcissa says he’s not strong enough, but he insisted on at least witnessing the ritual.”

“In that case, I’m going to assume that Draco’s done up some sort of roster.” Hermione stated.

“He has. Over there.” Harry pointed to a table that held all the Horcruxe containers.

“We’re going to do Harry first, right?” Neville asked.

“We are.” Draco joined them. “Harry first. Then the diadem, followed by the cup and the locket. The ring is next, Lupin and Father collected that last week, Father was ever so glad to see the back of it, couldn’t give it to us fast enough on Friday. It nearly cost him a hand, the curses and hexes around were vile, according to Lupin. ”

“And last will be the bit possessing Quirrell.” Neville nodded.

“Exactly.” Draco agreed. “And Father suggested that we wait for a few days, to get venom from the basilisk to ‘kill’ the diary.”

“Hey?” Ron wandered over. “Got a question about the basilisk?” He asked.

“Cast away.” Draco tilted his head in question, Ron’s questions tended to have interesting results.

“Can we require the Room to bring the basilisk here, unconscious or dormant or whatever? Then either conjure or transfigure or require a rooster or two? Is that possible?” Ron asked.

Harry and Draco looked at Ron, before turning to each other.

“This is why you keep him, isn’t it?” Draco asked. “Where the hell does he get them from?”

“No, this is just a benefit, I keep him because when he does this, it dumbfounds everyone. The expressions, like yours right now, are priceless.” Harry chuckled.

“You know you’re an ass sometimes, don’t you, Potter?”

Harry just gave Draco a broad grin and wandered back to the area laid out for the ritual, answering Ron as he went. “I think that should work fine, Ron. We can shove it into an expanded trunk and Professor McGonagall can hand it to Remus to take to Gringotts for rendering.”

“Yes!” Ron exclaimed. “No sliding down that bloody chute, again.” The redhead danced his way across to join Harry. “So… How we doing the summoning? Draco made a roster, yeah?”

“Yes, I did, Knight. Hellion’s in the centre and seven of us around the outside, Mione or I will be leading. Two extras to hold a cue card, one of each side of the circle, so no one bungles their chant.” Draco recited.

“Oh, thank you, Scalpel, thank you. I was more nervous about that chant than I was about the basilisk.” Ron sighed in relief.

“Yeah, nah worries.” Draco said in fake American accent.

“No. No, you do not get to do that.” Ron replied seriously. “That prat’s gone and there’s no need to bring him into this.” Ron shuddered at the memory of the useless idiot, that MACUSA had sent to be a liaison between the British Ministry’s TRT and their American equivalent.

“Yeah….” Draco grimaced. “Forgot you had a run-in with him. Sorry…”

“It’s fine, just… please? Don’t do again, he almost cost me, my parents, two brothers and my sister. The less he’s mentioned, the happier I will be.” Ron took a calming breath.

“Got it.” Draco nodded. “Alright, the ritual… I’m doing the first piece, with… going in a clockwise motion… Ron, Dean, Luna, George, Seamus and McGonagall. With each piece, barring Mione and I, each person will move clockwise one position, excluding the sixth person, who will step out. Mother will be the first to step in, she’ll join us for the diadem’s summoning, Fred for the cup’s piece, Neville for the locket’s, Cedric will step in for the ring’s and McGonagall will come back in for Quirrellmort’s. Mione and I will alternate between us for the lead position, we’ll use Pepper-Up’s and have a full night to recover afterwards.” Draco held up a hand at the objections. “The only reason it’s just the two of us, is because we rewrote the schematics of the ritual and that means it needs to be lead by either one person, all the way, or by a couple that are completely in tune with each other’s soul. That means… Mione and I or Fred and George. Not all of us, one or the other couple. They’re the only options.”

There was a smattering of grumbles, but if Draco said, they were the only options? They were the only options.

“Alright, everyone in position, please.” Hermione called. “Ron…? Clockwise. That means you’re on Draco’s left not his right.” She took the redhead and pointed him in the correct direction.

“Got it.” Ron quickly took his place, followed by each of the others.

“Ron, Dean, Luna? Can you all see the card that Neville’s holding up? Good. George, Seamus, Professor? Can you see the one Fred’s holding? Hmm… Fred? Take a step to your left, please. Can you all see it now? Good, good. Draco? Ready to go.” Hermione waited until Draco nodded. “Here’s the beat.” She tapped a metronome and a steady tick-tick began to sound. “The countdown is five… four… three… two… one… Go.”

Seven voices joined as one and the chant began.

_“[Vocamus autem id est animum, in hoc confringetur vas.](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.)_

_[Eam maxime partem confractum vocare nos animae.](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.) _

_[Venite vocamus, et propter grauitatem metui, et venite, et curamini, adiungere.](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.) _

_[Sit lux, quae facta sunt, quae sana domine Dirumpamus.](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.) _

_[Sit Dominus inferi dici quod anima, non erit in pace.](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.) _

_[Ut vocant, quod nos advocat, ut cum audierit domine et Dominus noster vocat.](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.) _

_[Dominus regnum in Herae offerimus animae iudicium.](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.) _

_[Ita sit.”](We%20call%20to%20the%20soul,%20bound%20broken%20within%20this%20vessel.%20%20To%20it,%20we%20summon%20the%20nearest%20piece%20of%20this%20broken%20soul.%20%20Come,%20we%20call,%20come%20and%20join,%20come%20and%20join%20and%20be%20healed.%20%20May%20the%20light%20of%20the%20Lady%20heal%20that%20which%20has%20been%20wrought%20asunder.%20%20May%20the%20Lord%20of%20the%20Underworld%20claim%20this%20soul,%20may%20it%20be%20at%20peace.%20%20As%20we%20call,%20as%20we%20summon,%20may%20the%20Lady%20and%20the%20Lord%20hear%20our%20calls.%20%20Within%20the%20Lady%E2%80%99s%20and%20the%20Lord%E2%80%99s%20realm,%20we%20offer%20this%20soul%20for%20judgement.%20%20So%20be%20it.) _

As the last few words were spoken, a great gout of black and green fire burst from Harry’s forehead, arching upwards in a tornado’s spiral. Harry, too was arching, his shoulders and feet still in contact with the floor, but the rest of his body lifted high in an unnatural arch, his arms reaching towards the walls. A soundless scream of hate and pain issued from the black fire, only to be echoed by one of joy and relief from Harry.

Above the boy the fire twisted and turned, but found no escape from the golden sphere that suddenly enveloped it and pulled the diary into it’s depths. With each second that sphere shrank, until it collapsed in on itself in a burst of golden sparks and the diary fell to the floor.

Silence reigned.

For a few seconds at least.

“That was… brilliant…” Harry whispered, the remnants of emotion from the ritual, leaving a tired smile on his face.

“It certainly looked it.” Narcissa agreed, from her seat near the chalkboard that held Draco’s roster of participants.

“Those staying in the ritual for the next summoning? I want you all to take a quarter dose of Pepper-Up, a goblet of juice and a biscuit, please.” Draco ordered. “Professor McGonagall? You may step out. Mother? You will come into first position. Everyone else, move around one place.”

“We’ll take five minutes to rest and then we’ll go for the next piece. Neville? Would you be so kind as to fetch in the Diadem, Please?” Hermione added.

“Sure.” Neville stood and crossed to the containment area, he didn’t cross the shimmering border, though. Not with his body, at least. He picked up a pair of long barbeque tongs and used them to clasp the diadem, holding it away from his body, he was taking no chances of it infecting him. There was a few seconds wait while Fred and Hermione helped Harry to his feet and removed him from the ritual space, then it was up to Neville to place the diadem in the centre.

“In place.” He confirmed and stepped away.

“In place.” Hermione acknowledge as she came back to the circle with it’s, carefully drawn out, seven pointed star.

A clock ticked and let out short chimes at one minute intervals, at four minutes it let out a quiet whistle and at five minutes a double whistle.

“Places, please.” Hermione called and every moved into their assigned position.

“Thank you.” Draco said. “Starting in five… four… three… two… one… Start.”

A repetition of the first summoning, pulled the shard from the diadem. The golden sphere, while much smaller, was a much denser gold, indicating either the malevolence or size of the shard. It also took longer for the sphere to collapse in on itself but, after some seconds, it did.

Draco took careful note of how much energy each person had discharged in the summoning and decided that breaks should increase with each repetition.

Two hours later, the last word of the chant left the lips of those standing around the circle. The soul-shard was pulled from the Quirrellmort’s head, the vicious and hate-filled scream, causing them all to step back. The golden sphere that encased the shard looked to be a solid mass, it was that dense. It shuddered, expanding and contracting at random intervals, before exploding in a burst of golden fireworks.

In it’s absence the diary fell to the floor, a soft golden glow emanating from it.

A sigh went around the room. “We got them all, then.” Harry beamed at his friends.

“We did, Hellion.” Draco nodded, still exhausted from his last time as the focus of the ritual, he had no idea yet, how Hermione had fared, but he hoped that she was not as drained as he felt.

“For now? I want everyone to rest here for a few hours.” Harry said. “We may need to turn back again, but thankfully, it should only be a few hours, we only have to make it back to our dorms before curfew.”

“And Quirrell?” Narcissa asked.

“I’ve obliviated him, wandlessly so it can’t be traced.” Harry answered. “All we need to do now is dump him somewhere that he’ll be found.”

“I vote for Nocturn Alley.” Fred held up a shaking hand.

“What about Stone Henge?” Hermione asked and Draco was relieved to see that she wasn’t as wrecked as he was.

“I was thinking maybe… the goat pen, behind the Hog’s Head.” Ron suggested. They all blinked and slowly the snickers started. “Drop him face down from a height, enough to stun him and make a loud enough noise that Aberforth will come to check.”

“Allow me… Please.” McGonagall pursed her lips in distaste.

“Certainly Professor, I’d have to borrow a broom from the twins and who knows if Dumbledore has that students’ brooms tracked.”

“He does. Student and staff, both.” McGonagall sniffed. “I shan’t be using one. Instead, I shall comment that with Severus out of action, someone should alert Bogmyrtle at Potions and Ladles, that we may need their services. No doubt, Dumbledore will appoint me to notify them. I shall floo to Rosmerta’s and make my way up Hog’s Way and onto Trotter’s Lane. Potions and Ladle is right opposite the Hog’s Head, but just prior to that are the ruins of the Cock and Bull, I can use them to position Quirrell above Aberforth’s goat pen.”

“Better get yourself a second wand from the Lost Wand Room.” Harry suggested.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, I don’t plan on casting anything on him.” McGonagall smirked.

“Explain, please?” Neville asked.

“Oh, I thought I’d have one of you transfigure him into something I can carry, _finite_  doesn’t register as magic cast at someone or something. Then I could conjure a plank to hold him and like I said a finite and my conjured plank is gone and Quirrell is face down in the pen.”

“Ah…?” Seamus grunted.

“Oh for heaven’s sake.” McGonagall huffed. “Potter will transfigure Quirrell into an outer-robe, which I shall wear down to Hogsmeade. Once I reach the Cock and Bull, I shall conjure a plank and place the robe on it. I shall then float the plank, with it’s robe-Quirrell, into position above the goat pen. Then I shall _finite_ both charms the plank with disappear and Quirrell will fall. Do you understand now?”

“Oh… Yeah… Got it, Professor.” Seamus rubbed his head from where Dean had smacked it.

“Good. Shall we?” The stern faced Professor asked.

 

Breakfast the next morning was interrupted by Dumbledore telling the students that Quirrell had been found injured, in Hogsmeade, and had been taken to St Mungo's for treatment, but that it was unlikely that he would be able to return to teaching in hte near future. DADA classes would be excused for the day, but would resume as per normal, the next day. Dumbledore had asked and an old Auror friend of his would take Quirrell’s place, either until Quirrell returned or until the end of the school year. He told the students that he would introduce the Auror at dinner that evening.

The Gryffindor table watched with varying degrees of interest as Dumbledore sat and sprinkled seasonings over his mushrooms on toast. The headmaster made a satisfied sound and proceeded to empty his plate.

“First dose ingested.” Harry told Hermione.

“Excellent. How long will the charms last?” She asked.

“The tablets are shrunk and mixed into the spices and the charm lasts until liquid is added. Five minutes after the spices meet liquid the tablets will revert to original size.” George answered.

“Ah. Thank you George.”

“Welcome.” George went back to eating his own breakfast.

“And how can we be sure that no one else will be affected?” Hermione asked a second question.

“Oh, we combined the same type of notice-me-not that Harry’s trunk has, with a mild repulsion charm but we also put a compulsion on it, tied to Dumbledore. He’ll use it at every meal and enjoy the flavour, but everyone else around him will be slightly disgusted at the thought of adding that spice mix to their food.”

“And what happens when it’s empty?” Dean asked.

“It won’t. We tied it to a large container of the spice mix and to a large bottle of the tablets with one of Hermione’s protean charms.” Fred answered, this time.

“Nice.” Dean nodded.

“How long will it take it build up in his system?” Ron asked, he was the least familiar with muggle medications.

“Effects should begin to become visible within a month.” Draco answered.

“Brilliant.” Ron gave Draco a wide smile, causing the blonde to blink. “Go anything that we can use to calm Mum down with?”

“Hmm…” Draco hummed. “I don’t-”

“What about an atomised variant on the Calming Draught? Only replace the crocodile heart with unicorn horn.” Neville suggested. “Give it to her as either an air freshener or as a perfume.”

The twins and Ron exchanged long speaking looks. “We’d have to warn her and Daddy that we’re earning some pocket money, by tutoring you lot, otherwise she’s likely to throw a tantrum about us having the money to buy her anything.” George warned.

“Why not say that you made it? Surely we can get Snape to give third years a lesson in how to make air-fresheners. Then you can say you adjusted the recipe until it smelt pretty, or smelt like something you know Mum likes.” Ron offered. “Then all you need are some ingredients and they’re cheaper than buying a ready-made perfume.”

“He did it, again.” Draco whined.

“There, there, Draco, there, there. It’s alright.” Harry said with fake sympathy and patted Draco on the shoulder.

“Bloody Potters.” The blonde muttered to himself.

 

The end of September came and went, as did the first week of October. During History of Magic, Harry wrote Remus a note, asking about the guardianship and received a reply of _‘Timing is everything, Potter. Watch a true Marauder at work.’_  Harry forwarded the note via the journal and watched as each person, commented.

The comments went from ‘ _Oh, crap’_ to _‘what the hell?’_ to _‘oh god, this is bad, isn’t it?’_ to _‘payback, Potter, ha-ha’_. Archer just looked at him and shook his head, grinning.

Harry let his head fall forward and hit the table, repeatedly, ignoring the looks from those not in the know. When Binn’s released them, Harry stalked from the room, muttering about mangy mutts and feral wolves being tainted by bloody Blacks.

 

Sunday, halfway through October, rolled around and Harry was getting snarkier every day, not that anyone but those that knew him well, could see it.

He still played small obvious pranks on other students, as well as the completely anonymous ones on Dumbledore. He still worked with Archer to increase his mobility and strength. He still did his school work in the classroom the group had commandeered. He still ate well and exercised every day.

But he also spent hours upon hours in the RoR, pushing his body to it’s limits. And his tolerance for the sheer stupidity of some people, got shorter and shorter.

Then the letter arrived.

A large pale grey, horned owl swooped low in front of Harry and dropped a letter on the table beside his plate of eggs, before flying towards the staff table and dropping a second letter in front of Dumbledore.

“What’s tha’ then?” Ron muttered around his mouthful of toast.

“Not sure, yet.” Harry answered and opened the letter.

_Dear Harry._

_I’m not sure how to say this. So, I’ll be as clear as possible._

_Vernon Dursley has been given a promotion, that meant moving to America. Petunia has asked me to take on your guardianship, as I was a close friend of both your Mother and your Father._

_Due to Petunia only being your Mother’s step sister and Vernon's new position having already started at the beginning of the month, the muggle courts had no objections and the paperwork was finalised on Friday._

_I understand that this is a shock to you and I hope that you will give me a chance to get to know you._

_I’ve sent this letter from Hogsmeade in the hope that Professor Dumbledore will allow me to come to Hogwarts and spend the day with you._

_Please, Harry, please give me a chance._

_Your (unofficial) godfather_

_Remus J Lupin._

“Mr Potter? The Headmaster would like a word with you. Come along.” Professor McGonagall said from behind Harry.

“Yes, Professor.” Harry hurriedly stood and followed his head of house.

As they left the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall glanced at him. “Do you know what this is about, Potter?” She asked.

“I think, it’s about my guardianship, Professor, as I received a letter from a Mr Remus Lupin, stating that he’s now my guardian, that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have moved to America because Uncle Vernon's been promoted.” Harry let himself sound young and confused. “Who is Mr Lupin?” He knew that most of the portraits reported back to Dumbledore and he wasn’t supposed to know who Remus was.

“Remus Lupin was in your parents’ year, here at Hogwarts and shared a dorm with your Father in Gryffindor tower.”

“My Father was a Gryffindor?” Harry asked as they reached the stone statue that guarded Headmaster’s office.

“He was. Here we are, Potter. Lemon sherbet.” She lead him up the already open stairs and into the office.

“Ah, thank you, Minerva. Harry, my boy, come in, come in. Have a seat.” Dumbledore greeted him jovially and waited until Harry was sitting before continuing. “Lemon drop? No? Oh, well… I received a letter from an old student this morning, he mentioned you, Harry.”

“Would that be a Mr Remus Lupin, Professor?” When Dumbledore nodded, Harry went on. “I got one from him, too.” Harry happily handed over Remus’ letter for Dumbledore to read. “Is it true? I don’t have to go back to Privet Drive?”

“Ah…” Dumbledore finished it and handed it back. “I see. The letter Remus sent me had a few more details. And yes, it appears so, the house has already been sold and your family have been in America for a few weeks.” Dumbledore’s twinkly was conspicuously absent.

Harry sat back with a huge sigh. “Oh thank god.” Before frowning. “Ooh, Aunt Petunia’s going to have to do her own gardening now, she won’t be happy about that.”

“I am going to see if I can convince them to return to England, Harry. I’m hoping the house sale hasn’t been completed and I can get it reversed.”

“Why? Leave it be, I don’t want to see them again.” Harry objected.

“Oh surely not, Harry. Won’t you miss spending time with them at home, in Surrey?”

“No, number four Privet Drive, was never my home and I have never considered Vernon and Petunia Dursley as my family.” Harry stated bluntly, knowing that doing so, would shatter any chances of repairing the lapsed blood wards, that Dumbledore had placed around the house.

“Harry! Your Mother loved her sister and-”

“Step sister.” Harry cut in.

“-she wouldn’t… What?” Dumbledore asked.

“Step sister. Whenever I did something freaky, Aunt Petunia would always say how glad she was that my Mother wasn’t her real sister, that they weren’t really sisters, that just because their parents had married, didn’t make them related.”

Dumbledore’s eyes widened. “Petunia isn’t Lily’s blood sister? They don’t share a Mother or Father?”

“Nope, Aunt Petunia said that Mum was a freak, I was freak and that if I ever have children, they’ll be freaks, but that her Dudley was perfect and as he wasn’t really related to me, none of his children would be freaks, like me.”

“I see… Minerva? Were you aware of this?”

“Of course, so were you.”

“No, no, I wasn’t.”

“You were. Lily told us, when she became pregnant. She said that her Mother had told her that Petunia was also pregnant, but that as the two girls didn’t share any blood, the chances of Petunia’s child being magical were almost non-existent. And if you recall…? Lily told us that her Father adopted Petunia and then she had to explain that muggle adoptions are on paper only. Poppy had to explain to James and I, that blood adoptions don’t work on muggles, which is why they use a paper adoption, it’s just as binding legally, but there’s no blood involved.”

“Oh, dear…” Dumbledore held onto his composure by the barest of margins. “Harry? Why don’t you head off to your study room? I’ll send Remus an owl and have him floo to the castle. I need to have a quick word with him before you two meet.”

“Yes, Professor.” Harry stood and after turning around, gave McGonagall a quick wink and left the office.

 

Down in the study room, the rest of the Raiders were waiting, some more patiently than others.

“Well?” Hermione demanded.

“Well… Remus is my muggle guardian and Dumbledore knows.” Harry answered. “Remus sent him a letter about it, don’t know what it said, though. I left Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore in Dumbledore’s office. Professor McGonagall will probably be along in a bit. Dumbledore did say that he wanted to speak to Remus before he met me, what’s the bet that he’ll try and work out a way to get it transferred to him?”

“No bet.” Came from Hermione, Ron, Fred and George.

“That’s a sucker’s bet.” Neville said.

“Not a chance.” Draco snorted.

“Bugger.” Harry sighed. “There’s nothing we can do but wait now.”

“Bugger.” Dean, Seamus, Ron and Neville sighed.

“Yeah… what they said.” Luna jerked a thumb in the boys’ direction.

It took longer than they like, but still less than they’d expected, when the hall’s alert charm sounded an hour later.

“Incoming.” Hermione warned, but it wasn’t really necessary, they were all already occupied with suitable pursuits. Ron and Draco were playing chess. Seamus and Archer were playing exploding snap. Luna and Neville were studying a herbology text. Fred, George and Cedric were planning some sort of prank. Harry and Dean were drawing in a large art book and Hermione was writing her parents a letter.

Seconds later, there was a gentle knock on the doorframe. Looking up, the Raiders saw Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin.

“Good morning.” McGonagall held up a hand with a note in it.

_Eavesdropping charm on cuff_

_From Dumbledore_

“Good morning, Professor.” They all said at different times, some together and some alone.

“Mr Potter? Your letter this morning?”

“Yes, Professor?” Harry answered in a cautious tone.

“This is Mr Remus Lupin.”

“Oh… Um… Hi…” Harry was very good at portraying a hesitant child.

“Hello, Harry. Professor Dumbledore tells me that you weren’t told about your family moving to America?”

“No, sir.”

“No, I didn’t think so, either. After many arguments, the Headmaster is going to leave things as they are.” Harry smiled and silently danced around the room. “And I’ve permission to come to the castle on Saturdays and Sundays to spend time with you. I’m hoping that you’ll agree to come and stay with me for the school holidays, I have a little cottage in Colgate.” Hermione’s face lit up. “Yes, your friends can come to visit, the floo is connected and there’s a muggle bus that runs past the gate.”

“Cool.” Harry beamed at his new guardian. “Oh, introductions, huh?”

“Please.” Remus nodded.

“Come in and sit down, you too, Professor McGonagall.” Harry gave a dramatic gesturing bow. “Feel free to conjure your favourite chair, we got Cedric and the twins to do ours, then we asked Professor Babbling to show us the runes to make them permanent.” Harry prattled.

“Very clever, Mr Potter. One point each for thinking of it, one point for asking and a third point each for doing it.” Professor McGonagall gave a small smile.

“Thank you, Professor. Oh, yeah, introductions. Cedric is our lone Puff, we’re still trying to talk more into joining us, but they’re a bit wary. The twins are Fred and George Weasley. The three of them are in third year, but still fun to hang out with, we’re planning a prank on a couple of the Ravenclaws, with them. The other redhead is the twins’ younger brother, Ron. He’s playing chess against Draco Malfoy. The two with the singed hair from exploding snap are Seamus Finnigan and Archer Evermond. Luna Lovegood’s the other blonde and she’s got her head in a book with Neville Longbottom. Beside me is Hermione Granger and warning? Don’t get between Hermione and a book, unless your name is Draco and even then, be careful. And Dean Thomas is drawing a picture of Mr Hagrid’s dog, Fang.”

“Nicely done, Harry.” Hermione gave him a pat on the head as she stood, she crossed to the stand where two owl’s perched preening their feathers. “Would one of you like to take a letter to my Mother, for me?” She asked and the dark grey owl hooted and held out a foot for Hermione to place her letter within the owl’s claws. “Thank you, Mother has some treats and a perch, you can rest before you come back, if you need to.” The owl hooted and flew out through the open window.

“Hello everyone.” Remus waited until Hermione was seated beside Draco before continuing. “As Professor McGonagall said, I’m Remus Lupin. As of Friday, I’m also Harry muggle guardian, as this previous guardians Petunia and Vernon Dursley have moved to America, for Vernon's work. They considered withdrawing Harry from Hogwarts, but they know little about the Wizarding world, here in Britain and absolutely nothing about the Wizarding world in America. As a friend of both of Harry’s parents and one of the few magicals that Petunia knew how to reach, she had Harry’s guardianship transferred to me. Now that causes a small problem, I have a… condition that prohibits me from being the guardian of a magical child… in the Wizarding world, that is. In the muggle world, it’s fine, just not in the Wizarding world. So that means that Harry has to have two guardians, one magical and one muggle.”

“Who’s going to be his other guardian?” Cedric asked, in a concerned voice, just like any good Puff would.

“There were a few people suggested, but Professor Dumbledore feels that Professor Snape is best. He explained his reasoning and while I’m not too keen on it, I understand it. This affects lots of things, but changes only a few for Harry, directly. Those being, that over the summer and any holidays, Harry will come to live with me and Professor Snape will visit us at least once a week, any decisions about your future will have to be discussed with Professor Snape and myself and approved by the pair of us.” Remus spoke in a voice of full of bare held emotion and he hoped that Dumbledore would attribute it to a dislike of Snape and not relief that Harry’s plan worked. “Professor Snape and I will sit down over the next week and work out a plan, we have already decided that we will hire someone to deal with the backlog of mail that couldn’t reach you in the muggle world and any incoming mail, from now on. After that, we’ll have to see to your parents’ estates and work out how that will affect your finances.” He sighed. “In the meantime, if you have any questions during the week, write up a list and I’ll try and go over it with you on the weekends, if I can’t or need to discuss it with Sna- Professor Snape, I’ll tell you that. Okay?”

“Uh… Okay…” Harry answered, while beaming and nodding his head almost violently. The other, so called, children joined Harry in his excited dance. “Can I have picture of Mum and Dad? Aunt Petunia wouldn’t have any magical pictures in her house and didn’t have any muggle ones of them.”

“I think we can do that, Harry.” Remus laughed. “Sni- Snape might be best for getting a picture of your Mum, though, before she came to Hogwarts they were good friends.”

“Wow…”

“Yeah, apparently they met in a park. I met your Dad, James, for the first time, on the Express, I was in a compartment by myself and this boy with glasses ran in and begged me to hide him, he’d…” Remus began to tell Harry and his friends, stories about Harry’s parents during their time at Hogwarts.

 

That night, the Raiders stepped up their pranks against Dumbledore, but at the same time, made sure to get caught for a poorly executed version of a prank that hit the Headmaster a week before, this time aimed at the Ravenclaws’ fifth year male prefect, Mr Ryan Buckley. He was chosen because he was trying to get between Penny Clearwater and Percy Weasley and while the Raiders had little tolerance for Percy’s attitude as it stood right now, in a few years he would grow out of it and become a decent human being. He’d married Penny, had two children and had been blissfully happy, so the Raiders felt that they should help them out, by limiting the interference they had to put up with.

The prank itself was an extremely complex one, that involved the victim’s hair and clothes changing colours, random colours at random intervals. And they made sure that they stuffed it up. Mr Buckley was turned green, just green and only green, varying shades for his clothes and Slytherin green for his hair and a dark moss green for his skin. Professor McGonagall was the one to catch them and loudly chastised them for it, demanding to know why they would do such a thing. Their answer of ‘the Headmaster was turned purple’ the week before, didn’t go down well.

Although… Snape told them later, that the look on Percy’s face was worth it. His expression kept flicking from satisfaction that his rival had been pranked so badly, to dismay that his brothers would do such a thing, to emotional that his brother’s had attacked his rival, to pleasure at Penny’s reaction of amusement.

Dumbledore, of course, talked McGonagall down on her chosen detention, instead of spending the afternoon with Filch, they would be restricted to their common rooms or to their study room. The Headmaster was unaware that this was what they wanted, anyway, as they were planning the next stage of their attack on him.

Ghosts.

That was the next stage. They had the fabled resurrection stone and with a bit of experimentation, the group found quite a few people that disliked Dumbledore. It took little time to convince some of them to join the Raiders in their prank/attacks on the Headmaster. Apparently, a ghost could choose those who saw it and the ghosts that the Raiders called all agreed that, other than the Raiders, Dumbledore would be the only one to see them.

The first to appear was a tiny girl, not old enough to attend Hogwarts, she’d been a victim of Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s actions before their famous duel. She was to spend a morning sitting on the bottom step of the entrance to the Headmaster’s office. The next was an old muggle woman that would sit herself and her knitting down in a wicker rocker beside the staff table. The third was a young soldier that Dumbledore had allowed to die, to protect his own people, ‘for the Greater Good’, he would march up and down the grand staircase.

And so it went on, victim after victim, each one staying voluntarily, some for hours, some for only minutes. All positioned where Dumbledore couldn’t avoid them.

 

The weeks passed, one by one.

Halloween came and went and November was drawing to a close, when an owl ghosted into the Raiders’ commandeered classroom. The common barn owl glided across the room, gathering the attention of the students, before coming to roost beside Ron. The redhead accepted the letter and gave the owl a treat, letting the string-tied parchment fall to the table.

“I wonder what this is all about?” He mused. “It’s not from Mum, she wrote earlier in the week.” He read the first few lines and began to moan. “Oh crap, oh god, oh shite, oh god, no, no, no, not good, oh bollocks.” His head fell into his hands and he kept up the litany of curses.

Hermione, the ever-curious Hermione, reached across Neville and snagged the letter from Luna’s unresponsive hands.

“Oh, flying ducks…” She whined and handed the letter on to Draco with a wave to pass it to Harry.

Draco quickly read the letter and his eyes popped. “Oh, dear.” He passed the letter to Harry.

Five seconds after Harry finished reading it, he leapt to his feet and began to swear… in Russian, German and Swahili.

The now unattended letter made the rounds of the Raiders, before arriving in McGonagall’s hands.

“Oh, my…”

 

_Ron, Harry and Hermione._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says the Malfoy boy got sorted in Gryffindor._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says that the twins are studying._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says Ron's studying._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says Luna is in your year._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says the Malfoy boy is already courting Hermione._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says Ron’s already asked about betrothals for Luna._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when I woke up with no scars._

_I remember getting them._

_Imagine my surprise when an age check says I’m 21 again._

_I remember planning a holiday for my upcoming 50 th._

_Imagine my surprise when my wife writes to me, asking why she's 14 again._

_We both_ _remember getting married and having children._

_Imagine my surprise when **you**  answer her bloody **question**. _

_I want to hear that conversation._

_Imagine my **wrath**  if you don’t._

_You won’t have to imagine, you’ll feel it._

**_WHAT DID YOU DO?_ **

_Bill._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last of the travellers has arrived


	10. Chapter 10

_The now unattended letter made the rounds of the Raiders, before arriving in McGonagall’s hands._

_“Oh, my…”_

_Ron, Harry and Hermione._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says the Malfoy boy got sorted in Gryffindor._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says that the twins are studying._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says Ron’s  studying. _

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says Luna is in your year._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says the Malfoy boy is already courting Hermione._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when Mum says Ron’s already asked about betrothals for Luna._

_I don’t remember that._

_Imagine my surprise when I woke up with no scars._

_I remember getting them._

_Imagine my surprise when an age check says I’m 21 again._

_I remember planning a holiday for my upcoming 50 th._

_Imagine my surprise when my wife writes to me, asking why she's 14 again._

_We both_ _remember getting married and having children._

_Imagine my surprise when **you**  answer her bloody **question**. _

_I want to hear that conversation._

_Imagine my **wrath**  if you don’t._

_You won’t have to imagine, you’ll feel it._

**_WHAT DID YOU DO?_ **

_Bill._

 

The redhead emerged from the stairs that lead to the Headmaster’s office, an older man at his side.

“Mr Weasley. Welcome back.” The Headmaster twinkled at him. “How can Hogwarts help you?”

“I require that you, and Hogwarts, change the listed magical guardian for one of your students, Headmaster.” Charlie Weasley said, his voice was calm, but his eyes were a little wild.

Dumbledore’s eyes widened, he hadn’t expected the boy to say that.

“One of my students?” _Heavens, please don’t let him mean Potter_.

“Yes, Headmaster. Archer Darian Evermond.”

“Mr Evermond is a muggleborn, Mr Weasley. As such, while he is enrolled at Hogwarts, I am his magical guardian.” The Headmaster corrected.

“Not anymore. As I’m sure you’re aware, Sirius Black died in Azkaban, in October.” Dumbledore nodded at Charlie’s comment. “His Will was released a few days ago and Read this morning.”

“I fail to see the connection, Mr Weasley.” Dumbledore frowned.

“Yes, we did too. However, while Black left a portion of his estate to his godson, along with a few personal bequests, the majority of his estate was left to the Title and to be dispersed as per the Black Family Laws.” The man at Charlie’s side said. “And those Laws are absolutely unbreakable, even Gringotts have stated that they’ve based their own contracts on the Black Laws.”

“I am aware, but what does…?”

“The Black Laws state that when a Head of House dies without naming a successor, or if the Lord has left their estate to the Laws, then the youngest eligible male will inherit, be it titles, monies or lands. And that if male is underage, then the youngest of age male would become the Seneschal to the House and Magical Guardian to the young Lord-Designate.” The unnamed man said.

“Ah…” _This was not good, not good at all. I can’t let Potter have access to the Black estate_.

“But Merlin’s Law supersedes all existing Family Laws.” Charlie warned.

“It does.” _How does that affect this? What am I missing?_

“Harry Potter is Sirius Black’s godson, but Potter’s also the last Potter and as such is recognised at Lord-Designate of House Potter. That means that he’s not among the males eligible for the Black Lordship.” The third man said.

“Ah, I see.” _Thank heavens_.

“The goblins have had to access the Black Archives to identify all those eligible. There were a surprising number eligible, Blacks have married into many families. Potter, Longbottom, Weasley, Prewett, Malfoy, Burke, Crabbe, Tonks, Rosier, Crouch, Macmillan, Bulstrode, Gamp, Burke and Yaxley. Not to mention, they had quite a few squibs, too. And that’s only in the last century, Headmaster. There were some twenty-plus young men that registered as eligible.” The unnamed man went on.

“Oh, my.” The Headmaster hadn’t realised the Blacks were quite so… prolific… or so interspersed.

“Yes. Most of their squibs were disowned, removing their descendants from the succession, however… one wasn’t. Marius Castor Black. It’s been noted that Marius was blasted from the family tapestry in the Black’s London house, however while Orion and Walburga may have disowned him from _**their**_ family, they did not have the authority to disown him according to the Black Laws, only the Lord of House can do that. And Arcturus didn’t, Marius was his favourite cousin, hence leaving his descendants eligible for succession.” The man paused. “Mr Evermond is the only living descendant of Marius Black.”

“I was under the impression that Mr Evermond is a muggleborn.” Dumbledore stated.

“And unless Gringotts had call to go searching, you would likely have stayed under that impression, Headmaster, as would the rest of the Wizarding World.” The man replied. “Archer’s paternal family are purely muggle and of little interest to anyone. But his maternal side, aren’t. Marius Black married Floria, a daughter of House McKinnon, who just happened to be another squib. They had three children, but the two boys were killed during the muggles second World War, leaving only their daughter. Elanora, like her parents was a squib, she married a Brandon Gleeson, Gringotts believe that Mr Gleeson’s name was changed, as Gleeson is not a Wizarding name, but he still registered on Gringotts’ testing of Mr Evermond’s ancestry, as a pureblood squib. Elanora bore Gleeson only the one living child, dying in childbirth along with their second child. The surviving child, Jessica, married Matthew Evermond and together they had three sons, twins Archer Darian and Davis Arthur born in 1980 and Zion born in 1983. All but Archer were killed in a traffic accident in 1985, resulting in Archer being sent to an orphanage. Until the landslide and building collapse in August, just gone.”

“And you believe that Mr Evermond is to be the Lord- Designate of House Black?” Dumbledore asked, his brows rising.

“The Black Archives do, leading Gringotts to investigate further, the end result is… Yes, Archer Evermond is The Black, Lord-Designate of House black.” The still unnamed man answered.

“I see.” Dumbledore blinked a few times. “And why is Mr Weasley here?”

“I am the youngest of-age male of Black blood, via both of my grandmothers. Lucretia Black married Ignatius Prewett and Cedrella Black married Septimus Weasley. As such I was given the opportunity to be named as Seneschal to House Black and magical guardian to my Lord, until his majority.” Charlie answered, sounding a bit shell-shocked.

“However, Mr Weasley’s apprenticeship with Care of Magical Creatures Master Scamander means that he will be living outside of Britain. So, unless he were to withdraw Archer from Hogwarts and see to his training externally, Archer wouldn’t be living with him. Unfortunately, due to Archer’s history in the muggle world, this is not advisable.” The unnamed man warned.

“No, I agree, under the circumstances it wouldn’t.” Dumbledore nodded sagely, still wondering where this was going.

“As such…” The unnamed man paused. “Mr Charles Weasley has decided that his being seneschal and guardian to the Lord-Designate would not be to the benefit of House Black and has stepped aside in favour of the next in line, Mr William Weasley. William has temporarily authorised Charles to act on his behalf, as he is unable to return to Britain until the week of the 16th of December. All decisions made by Charles or myself have to be ratified and counter signed by William. He has a few people in mind but would like Charles and I to hear your suggestions on naming a muggle guardian for Mr Evermond and a recommendation for his residence, outside of the scholastic year, taking into consideration the position that he will one day, claim. Depending on what Charles and I decide, paperwork may have to be forwarded to William for approval, some options are pre-approved, however.”

“Ah…” Now that was unexpected and Dumbledore hummed to himself as he considered. _Where to put the lad?_  An overheard conversation, the day before, between Minerva and Hagrid jumped into his mind.

What had she said? _‘Molly played her favourites, almost any parent does.’_  And Hagrid’s reply of ‘ _Not Lupin, he’s only got ‘Arry.’_

If he were to suggest Lupin? _Evermond will be Lord Black, a title that was Black’s, would that be enough to endear the boy to Lupin? To favour him over Potter? With Snape there causing a rift between Lupin and Potter, it should push Lupin towards Evermond. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to advise that favouritism can occur and get the boy moved elsewhere. Yes, yes, that should work nicely._

“I… I do have a suggestion… Mr Evermond… he was sorted into Gryffindor, Mr Weasley. Along with your younger brother, Ronald. And another young Lord-Designate, Harry Potter.”

“…ooh…” Charlie breathed out slowly.

“The lads get along quite well… might I suggest…? Remus Lupin is Mr Potter’s muggle guardian, might I suggest that the same for Mr Evermond be offered to him?” _How to cast it? Ah… yes._ “Mr Lupin has already stated that Mr Potter will be receiving estate training during the holidays, adding Mr Evermond would be a simple thing, I should think. And Mr Lupin is only Mr Potter’s muggle guardian, his medical condition prohibits him from being a magical guardian to any child.”

“Medical condition?” The unnamed man asked in a hard tone.

“Yes, a formally diagnosed medical condition. I cannot give you the details, confidentiality oaths, you understand. But I can state, that he’s not a danger to children, in point of fact he’s very protective of them.” The Headmaster twinkled at the two men.

“I see…” The two men both said, exchanging looks and Charlie went on. “How would we get in contact with this… Remus Lupin? Before it's decide to go any further, we’d need to speak to him… him and Archer.”

“Ah… well now… You are in luck, today is Saturday and Mr Lupin has permission to spend time at Hogwarts during the day, on both Saturdays and Sundays. Mr Evermond and Mr Potter are part of a small group of students that have claimed an abandoned classroom, in the Icy Corrider, not that far from the Turris Magnus. If I recall correctly, Mr Weasley, you were in your second year, when Mr Roberts and the staff found Mr Cooper in that corridor, I understand he was trapped in the ice for some time.” Dumbledore raised an eyebrow to Charlie.

“Yeah, it’s on the fifth floor of the Castle Keep.” Charlie tilted his head.

“Correct. Unfortunately, you will have to go down to the fourth floor of the Turris Magnus or right the way around the Keep to reach it, part of the Grand Staircase blocks northern access to the fifth floor.” Dumbledore advised.

“That’s fine, Headmaster. I’m sure we can find it.” Charlie gave him a grin.

“I dare say you can, Mr Weasley. Now, if you have your documentation from Gringotts and the Ministry, I can alter Mr Evermond’s details before you leave. His muggle details may take a little longer to be processed, however, so you’d best get that started. Professor McGonagall has informed me that Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy and Mr Diggory have all invited Mr Evermond to spend the Christmas holidays with them, whether he’s decided to do so, I am unaware, but I had granted permission, my being under the impression of being his guardian, at the time. If neither yourself or William object, perhaps you could discuss the matter with Mr Lupin? As his magical guardian’s representatives, I am prepared to accept your permission for him to do so, but come summer, without a registered muggle guardian, my hands are tied, he would have to return to the muggle orphanage.”

“Not happening, we’ll have this sorted before then.” Charlie growled as he handed Dumbledore a sheaf of parchment.

“Very well, Mr Weasley. I’ll see to this and being Mr Evermond’s file up to date. I trust that you will be able to escort your… advisor… around the castle?”

“We’ll be fine, Headmaster.” Charlie grinned.

The two men left the Headmaster in his tower, to reflect on the information he’d just been given.

 

Having started some time earlier, two floors down and a dozen yards to the south, the Raiders were having their own meeting, joined by Professors McGonagall, Snape and Moody, who’d taken on the DADA post and Remus and Tonks. They say around a large oval table, with Neville at one end and the five adults at the other.

“Moody? What do you have to add?” Neville asked, as this month’s chairperson.

“I got all the altered documents in place, just in time. Gringotts went looking, just like you expected them to. Davis is now Davis Arthur, twin to Archer Darian. I went with Davis Arthur in stead of Davis Archer, just to create a separation between he and Archer. Birth certificates and [NIN’s](national%20insurance%20numbercard) placed, along with extra banking details. The various government departments have had files altered and where necessary, added. My welfare contact has stated that he can possibly fast-track Lupin’s guardianship application, but only so far. The fact that Lupin has just taken over Potter’s guardianship is a mark in his favour, as far as the muggles are concerned.”

Hermione drew out a sheet of parchment. “I’ve written up a letter to go with the application, from Archer’s point of view, stating that his best friend’s guardian wants to be his guardian and he’d like it ever so much if Welfare would let him. The fact that Remus is also prepared to take on the cost of raising Archer with only the government supplement, is another positive.”

“Excellent. Luna? Would you note that, please?” Neville turned to the blonde girl.

“Yes, Neville.” Luna stood and wrote a few lines in a square of parchment, hanging on the wall.

“So, what does that leave us still to accomplish, in the long-term?” Neville asked.

“In order…” Luna began. “We still have Harry’s adoption. A question about adoption for Archer. Dumbledore to dethrone. The basilisk to kill and sell. The RoR to finish going through. The squib/muggleborn argument to raise. Curriculum changes for Hogwarts. OWLs. NEWTs. Estate training. Wizengamot infiltration. Removing Remus from the werewolf register. Businesses. Careers. Families, do we tell them or not?”

“Uh…” Neville grunted.

“May I make a suggestion?” Professor McGonagall asked.

“Of course, you may, Professor.” Neville answered.

“In that case I suggest, that for the moment, you concentrate more on Hogwarts and the things you plan to achieve while you are here. Not to discard the longer-term items, just don’t focus on them, as much. Give more attention to the things you can alter now.”

Neville looked at each of the Raiders and one by one, they nodded.

“Thank you, Professor, your advice is well accepted and agreed upon. Luna? Please break down our to-do list into four sections. Immediate future, things we have to focus on right now. Hogwarts, things that have to happen while we are still students. Post-Hogwarts, things we can’t change until we leave Hogwarts. And ongoing, things that we can start now, but may take time… weeks, months or years to complete, or their timeframe is unknown. Where they overlap, items are to go on multiple lists.”

“Yes, Neville.” Luna began transposing details from one sheet, across to three clean sheets. “In order of immediacy… Archer’s guardianship needs to be resolved. Then Harry’s adoption. The only other thing we need to focus on this year, is whether Archer is to be adopted and by whom. Then of course, there is the ongoing issue of Dumbledore.”

“Alright, I move that we focus on just those three items. Once one is complete, we can reassess and look to transferring a pending item to our working list. Those in favour?” Neville looked around, counting not so much the hands raised, but those that weren’t. “All in favour, motion is accepted.”

“I’ve a question.” Cedric held up a hand. “Study groups, we told the meddler we were open to other joining us, but we haven’t approached anyone, I think to camouflage ourselves, we need to. Are we going to approach the other houses?”

“Those in favour of approaching other houses?”

“I have an idea about that, before we vote on it.” Ron said, everyone turned to look at the redhead, cautiously. His ideas tended to be one of two things, either absolutely brilliant or absolutely brainless. “We need to hide in plain sight, right? So we need to invite others to join us sometimes… but we still need to have sessions that are just us. I was thinking about how and where we can do that. And I think Harry’s trunk is our best bet. Or one like it. Can we get a wizard space that is accessible from multiple trunks?”

Silence met Ron’s query.

“Tonks, Remus, Moody? Any idea?” Neville asked.

“I don’t know.” Tonks frowned.

“Neither do I.” Moody huffed.

“I can check.” Remus offered. “I’ve appointments in Diagon, a few times this coming week.”

“Please. If we can’t we’ll need to link together a number of trunks and that could be an issue. Most students don’t acquire trunks during the school year. We don’t want staff or family members to be alerted, just yet.” Neville warned.

“What if we were to all write to family and ask for a trunk like Harry’s, with a small expanded space? We’d never have to purchase another one. Fred, George and I can say that we want to earn the ʛalleons by helping Remus, Harry and Archer clean and sort out their new home, over Yule, we all know that Remus bought it with all contents included. Harry? How much was the trunk?”

“Uh… about ʛ150.”

“Ah, bollocks. Not much chance we can earn that in one holiday.” Ron sighed.

“What if you were to tell your Mum that they were already in the house, up in the attic and Remus said you can have them?” Draco offered. “The only thing we’d have to do to them, is to age them a little.”

“We could do that.” Fred and George nodded together.

“Alright. Remus check and see if we can get a wizard space that we can access from multiple places. If not see if you can get a discount on a bulk order of trunks and we can link them to a central trunk. How large do we want to go on their inside?” Neville asked.

“I don’t think it really matters. We only need a basic space, big enough for our personal storage and a single access point.” Hermione answered.

“In that case I suggest that we each nominate our required size, please don’t go overboard, we still have to get these passed our families. Something large enough for a library or study area. Maybe we can prevail on Harry to create each of us our own personal wizard space, too?” Remus asked.

“Sure, but don’t go overboard, guys. It takes a crap-load out of me, even using a wand to do it.” Harry warned. “Just go for a standard size, Remus. Ten-by-ten. I’ll put a small wizard space in it, that you can use as a hallway and have other doors open off of it. Just remember that putting wizard spaces inside an expanded space is touchy. I can make a hall and have rooms off that hall, but three tiers are the limit.”

“I don’t follow..?” Tonks tilted her head in confusion.

“Alright, it’s like this.” Harry began a lengthy explanation into the rules of creation of wizard spaces. When he finished, he sat back and let the other absorb the information he’d given them.

"Right, three tiers or risk multi-dimensional explosions." Tonks nodded with a grimace.

“Alright, how many trunks do we need?” Remus pulled a note book from a pocket. “And how many access points to the wizard space?”

“Best get… oh, hell… better make it two dozen. For both. Just to safe. Yeah, I know… the Malfoys only need one, but that gives us backups, just in case more of us turn up.” Harry grimaced.

“How many more of you could there be?” Snape spoke for the first time.

“Gods above, I hope none, but the way our luck is going? Could be another half dozen, yet.” Harry moaned.

“Oh, I hope not.” Hermione’s moan joined Harry’s.

Before they could continue, the corridor alert chimed. The Raiders and their allies looked at each other and split into smaller groups. Neville, Draco and Hermione went with Snape to a smaller table in one corner. Seamus, Dean and Luna went with McGonagall to another corner. Ron, Cedric, Fred and George went with Moody. Archer and Harry stayed at the big table, but Remus and Tonks moved to sit closer to them. By the time the tap at the door came, four separate conversations were well underway.

 

Charlie Weasley was confused. He’d been confused for weeks now. Ever since his Mother wrote to him in October, she’d gone on about the twins and Ron and how well they were doing at Hogwarts. The twins had changed their classes, without telling the parents, but for the first time, their decision had been a smart one. Dropping Muggle Studies and CoMC and picking up Rune and Arithmancy would give them a better skill-set for the future. Being told Ron was studying, that had stumped Charlie, he’d had to read and re-read that, just to be sure that he’d actually read it right. It didn’t make sense, Ron wasn’t a scholar, he was too lazy. Or at least... he hadn't been, up until Charlie left home.

Then yesterday, Gringotts had sent him a portkey, stating that the matter needed to be discussed in person and no, he couldn’t send a proxy. He’d consulted briefly with his master, Newt Scamander, and it was decided that Gringotts wouldn’t have sent an international portkey for a minor issue. Upon landing in Gringotts’ London branch that morning, he’d been left flying catch-up, the snitch just out of reach.

Being told that he was the first in line to be seneschal to House Black had thrown him for loop. Being told that if he accepted, he was also to be the magical guardian to an eleven year old boy, one that had been mentioned quite a bit in Ron’s letters to Mum and Dad, knocked him clean off his broom. Thankfully, the goblins had sent him to the Black’s legal firm, who had been quite apologetic that the old wizard who’d handled the Black’s files, had passed away. Charlie had met with the available lawyers and decided that he, or someone else in the family, would be working with the man for many years, so he chose a wizard that had a no nonsense attitude and didn’t sneer at either Charlie or the fact that the new Lord Black was a muggle raised boy. That the lawyer was a half-blood, probably had something to do with it.

The wizard had sat down with him and laid out his responsibilities to the boy and his House, reminding him that he was free to refuse, in which case it would revert to his brother, Bill. A long international floo-call and the issue was decided. Charlie would step aside and Bill would come forward, but for this weekend, Charlie would act in Bill’s stead, as Bill wouldn't be home until Yule and would see to anything else that needed doing, then.

Now, he was about to meet the boys… and girls… that Ron wrote about, one of which had just become the closest thing to a nephew, that he would get without one of his brothers marrying.

He reached out and tapped on the doorframe of the room that Dumbledore had told him, his brothers’ and their friends had claimed.

“Come.” An adult male’s voice directed.

Charlie peeked his head around the frame. “Uh… Hi…” He gave a weak smile.

“Do come in, Mr Weasley.” The man’s voice ordered.

“Sure. I’m looking for…” His voice trailed off as he came face to face with the head of Slytherin house. “Uh… Professor Snape…?”

“Mr Weasley.” The potions master nodded regally. “Which of the miscreants that are your brothers, are you here for?”

“Oh, um… None of mine, sir. I’m actually looking for a… um… Archer Evermond?”

“Ah, you’ll find him at the back of the room, seated at the table with Mr Potter, Mr Lupin and Ms Tonks. Heaven knows what they’re discussing.” Snape nodded and turned back to the bushy-haired girl at his side. “Billywig sting venom is extremely versatile, yes, but the wings are inert as far as…”

Charlie shuddered and turned away, he’d been stung by a billywig once and suffered an allergic reaction, it took almost a week for the levitation side-effects to wear off. He turned to look for the table and was surprised to see Ron, Fred, George and… was that Cedric Diggory?… sitting in a curved row in front of an older man in Auror’s robes. Fred glanced up and gave Charlie a wave and sent back to listening attentively to whatever the Auror was saying. The CoMC apprentice blinked and shook his head before looking further into the room. An attentive twin, who’d have thought it possible?

In a third corner, Charlie saw Professor McGonagall demonstrating some of the more advanced transfigurations to a pair of boys and a blonde girl. From there his eyes slid around the room until he saw a bubble-gum purple head, he smiled and headed in that direction.

“Hey, Tonks.” He stopped a few feet away.

The pink head lifted and a pair of steel blue eyes blinked at him.

“Charlie Weasley? What’re you doing here?” She asked.

“I could ask you the same, Tonks.” Charlie gave her his best grin.

“I joined the Aurors and got assigned to Moody. He’s been seconded to Hogwarts to take the DADA post for this year, so I’m getting as much of the academy theory out of the way, as I can, before we leave. You?”

“Um… I need to talk to Archer Evermond and Remus Lupin.” Charlie answered, looking pointedly at the three people with her.

“Okay…” She wobbled her head in surprise. “That’s Archer. That’s Harry.” She pointed at each boy in turn. “And this is Remus.”

Charlie raised a brow as Tonks’ tone went from amused and fond, as she said each boy’s name, to the same deeply affectionate and respect-filled tone that she used only when talking about her family.

“Okay…” He blinked a few times, before taking a deep breath. “I need to talk to them, privately. Sorry, Tonks.”

“Mr Weasley?” Remus wasn’t sure he’d ever actually met Charlie before. “Remus Lupin. Can you at least tell us what this is all about?”

“Um…” Charlie hesitated.

“Why don’t Harry and I go and join Moody and his group?” Tonks offered. “If you need us, just yell.” With that, she stood and nodded to Harry, the two left Archer and Remus sitting at the table, while Charlie stood beside it.

“Well, sit down, Weasley, and tell us what this is all about. And don’t forget the introductions.” Remus looked to the man who had followed Charlie.

“Right.” Charlie slid into a seat and the man sat beside him, a folio set on the table between them. “This is Derek Jarvis, he’s… um… he’s representing…” Charlie floundered.

“I’m here, today, to represent the House of Black.” Mr Jarvis stated.

“Black?” Remus frowned. “Why would someone from House Black need to speak to Archer and I? Care to explain?”

“Certainly, Mr Lupin…”

For the next half hour Mr Jarvis explained the situation. Sirius Black’s death and his Will. How the Black Family Laws worked. How Archer was connected. How the Weasley’s were connected. And what that meant for Archer.

“I see…” Remus sighed in relief, so far things were working the way the Raiders had anticipated. “But how do I come into this picture?”

“Ah, well. Black Family Law’s state that the youngest of-age male will be the seneschal for any under-age Lord-Designate. That would be Charles. Unfortunately… Charles is not in a position to accept such a title, at this point in time.” Mr Jarvis warned.

Remus frowned, this wasn’t part of the plan. “Why not?”

“Charles has only just started a CoMC apprenticeship and seeing that his master has never taken an apprentice before, if he were to walk away now, there’s no chance that such an opportunity would ever be offered again.”

“His master? Who?” Remus asked.

“Newt Scamander.” Jarvis answered.

“Oh...” Both Remus and Archer’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Precisely. Now, Black Law does have an extrication clause for this type of situation. Charles is able to step aside and defer to the next, most eligible male.” Jarvis stated and Remus began to swear in his mind. “In this case, that is Mr William Weasley.” Remus sucked in a deep breath.

“We were able to floo-call with Bill in Egypt and run the option passed him.” Charlie assured them.

“Ah…” Remus sighed, not sure if in resignation or relief.

“William has accepted the position. He has just over a year left on his Curse-breaking apprenticeship with Gringotts, but some time ago had placed a request to be re-assigned to London for the remainder of his apprenticeship, even so, there will be times that William will have to leave the country on Gringotts’ business and as such he has requested that we investigate locating a muggle co-guardian for Mr Evermond. For this weekend only, William has authorised Charles to act in his stead, in regards to Mr Evermond.”

“Professor Dumbledore suggested you, he said that you are already the guardian of one of Archer’s dorm-mates, Harry Potter. Bill would like Archer to live with you and Harry. Maybe he could get a place close by, for when he’s in Britain.” Charlie leant forward.

“Could I, Mr Remus? Please? Harry and I get along well, we don’t fight much, cause we like the same things. Please?” Archer turned Sirius’ big grey eyes on Remus, well aware of the two men sitting on the other side of the table.

Remus sighed. “I’d need to floo-call Bill, to hash out the details, but… yeah, okay, why not?”

“Yay!” Archer leapt from his seat and raced over to Harry, jumping on the other boy from behind. “I’m coming to live with you!” His arms wrapped around Harry and his chin sat on Harry’s shoulder.

“Cool, you sleep in your own bed, though.” Harry reached up, with one hand and patted Archer on the head, not even twitching at suddenly being enveloped in arms and legs.

Charlie laughed at the boys. “Bill’s coming home, the week of the 16th of December. He’ll have to find a place to live, before Mum realises he’s back, or he’ll never get away from her. But the Express doesn’t head back to London until the 19th. Do you think…? Is that enough time to sort all this stuff out?”

Remus hummed. “If William’s takes Archer’s magical guardianship, I can take his muggle, I’ve done the same with Harry. If I can get the muggle papers submitted and accepted before the Express, I think we can work the rest out over the holidays. Harry has already asked Archer to stay for the holidays and Professor Dumbledore had given his permission. I can’t see this being any different really.” Remus tilted his head in thought. “I’ve a cottage in Colgate, West Sussex, that has a couple of outbuildings. One’s been done up as a studio, William could stay there, at least until he finishes his apprenticeship.” Remus offered. “It will be very busy over Yule, though, the cottage is jam-packed full of stuff and I’ve been more concerned about getting all the legal stuff sorted to worry about the stuff in the house. Harry suggested and I agreed, that he ask the contingent to come and help with the sorting. We’ll pay them… something, no idea what, yet. The twins are keen, as are Ron, Dean, Neville and Luna. Hermione’s Father said he’s happy to let her join us, if we can locate a suitable chaperone, I told him that Andromeda Tonks will be there, she’d still sorting through the backlog of Harry’s mail. And Cedric said he wanted to know what the twins found, so he’d come too. Assuming I can talk your Mother into it.”

“If Bill’s there, she probably will. What about the other boys?” Charlie asked while Jarvis assembled paperwork and marked where Remus had to sign.

“Draco’s likely to pop in and out, the Malfoys have a large gala over Yule and Narcissa is allowing Draco to stay with us that weekend. Seamus’ family are having a family gathering for Christmas, so we won’t see him until the weekend before the Express returns to Hogwarts. And I’m sure Dora will around on the weekends.” He sighed.

“Mr Lupin? If you’d sign these, I can get the paperwork lodged, first thin on Monday morning.” Jarvis pushed the pile of documents across the table and used his wand to indicate where Remus was to sign.

“So, um…? What’s with Tonks? She’s not usually so… friendly… with people.” Charlie asked.

“Dora?” Remus sighed again. “I’ve known her since birth, so I’m not ‘people’, not really.” Remus huffed. “I stayed with Andi and Ted for a bit when Dora was… about fourteen… I think. She… Andi says she had a crush… but it’s got… worse, better, I don’t know. Anyway, as the only female Black of marriageable age, there’s a lot of interest in her. Ted’s not happy about it, so he’s encouraging Dora. Andi’s already mentioned a betrothal between us, she wants to protect Dora and thinks a contract will do that. I’m not so sure.”

“Mr Lupin? If I may?” Jarvis interrupted. “A contract between the only Daughter of House Black and the seneschal of House Potter is a most suitable match. I would recommend having an cancellation clause, that either of you may enact at any time, without penalty. Exchanging gifts, would cause even the most traditional of Houses to back off, particularly if the gifts were financial in nature. Having them of equal amount, would mean that no one is deprived if the contract is broken. If you decided to progress with the contract, you would at least have the incidentals out of the way. Conversely, if you decided not to go ahead, with cancellation clauses and equal financial amounts, dissolving the contract would take only minutes. Regardless, it provides protection to Miss Tonks, as a Daughter of House Black. As well as to yourself as seneschal of House Potter **_and_**  as guardian to two Lords-Designate, Mr Evermond and Mr Potter.”

“So… you’d suggest going ahead?” Charlie gaped at Derek Jarvis.

“I would. Charles, both yourself and William had nominated myself as the primary legal representative to House Black and as such, yes, I do recommend such a contract. It ensures that financial and legal safety of a member of your House and also that of one your Lord’s guardians.”

“Put like that…” Charlie sighed.

“Yeah…” Remus agreed. “Make an appointment, ask Andromeda, Ted and Dora to attend and we’ll get it out of the way, if you would, Mr Jarvis.”

“Certainly, Mr Lupin. And you might suggest the same to William when you see him, as I’m sure you will see him before I do.” Jarvis warned.

“Will do.” Remus nodded. “Now, I just have to deal with this lot and Molly Weasley.”

“Good luck.” Charlie grinned. “Now, is that all the paperwork done? Cause, I’d really like to catch up with my brothers.”

“It is, Charles. I’ll leave you to your family and see myself out.” Jarvis carefully bundled the papers back into the folio and stood.

“Will you be right to find your way out?” Charlie asked.

“Charles, I did attend here for seven years, even if Professor Dumbledore doesn’t remember my face.” He tossed Remus a smirk. “Nor does Lupin.” He walked towards the door.

“Me?” Remus looked confused. “Why should I remember you?”

“You don’t remember the Marauders being pink with purple polka dots for a week? My dorm-mates and I did that.” Jarvis said as he walked out the door, leaving Remus gaping.

Charlie laughed at the Marauder’s expression. “So, I’m guessing you do remember that?”

“Yes…” Remus snorted. “We blamed Lily and Snape for that.”

“Looks like you owe someone an apology…”

“Yeah…”

“So, tell me? What’s with the twins and Ron? Mum says they’re studying and doing well? How? When did that happen?” Charlie asked.

“Ah, that would be McGonagall and Snape’s fault.”

“What? How?”

“McGonagall told Harry about his Father and I being Marauders, Harry told the twins and they were wrapt in the stories, but then McGonagall told them that in our chosen subjects, James, Sirius and I were all in the top five for our year. And usually Snape and Lily took the other two spots. Peter wasn’t nearly as good a student as us, but even he was still passing _**all**_ his subjects. Then Snape said that CoMC has little applications, but that runes and Arithmancy would come in handy for working out their pranks, without having to risk the lives of their test subjects.”

“Right… And Ron?”

“McGonagall, again. She manipulated the three of them into a wager. Ron wins and the twins hire him for five years to work in their shop. Twins win and he has to work in the Ministry for those five years.”

“Their shop?”

“Oh, yes, apparantly they’ve been working towards it since they came to Hogwarts. Saving pocket money, tutoring, selling pranks, that sort of thing. And Harry made a bet with them, too. They take seven classes, get seven OWLs, and he’ll give them some start-up money. ʛ50 for each OWL and a further ʛ50 for each O grade. Same for NEWTs, but he’s made it a ʛ100 for each O, this time.”

“And if they can’t?” Charlie grimaced.

“They work in the Ministry for five years.” Remus smirked.

“Oh, hell… and they took it?”

“Yep, jumped at it. And they’ve **_all_**  been working at it. Look over there, see?” Remus pointed at a large hand drawn poster for Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes. “That’s their reminder, they see that every day. That’s their incentive, Harry doesn’t have to push them, they’re pushing themselves. The chance at being handed ʛ3500 is worth the work. Plus, I told them if they help in sorting through the cottage, I’ll pay them for their time.”

“Huh.” Charlie grunted.

“Charlie!” Three redheads appeared, their arms and hands clutching at their brother.

“I’ll leave you with them.” Remus grinned and stood. “I need to have a word with Snape. Oh and just so you know, visitors have to leave the castle by five o’clock, that gives you about an hour.” Remus warned. He walked across the room and stopped, off to Snape’s side. “Can I have a word, Snape. I’ve just been handed some interesting information…?” Snape nodded and the two men left the  room.

Some time later, Remus ducked his head around the corner of the door and waved to get everyone’s attention.

“Thanks. It’s twenty to five, Mr Weasley. You and I need to begin our departure. Boys? Girls? I have your shopping list and I’ll do my best to get everything this week, or at the least order what I can. Minerva? Moody? I’ll floo-call you Wednesday or Thursday, with an update. Dora? Might be a good idea to head home sometime this week.” Remus addressed the room. “I’ll see you all next Saturday.” He withdrew and was gone.

“Huh. That was quick.” Fred snorted.

“Uh-huh. It was.” George added.

“Dinner’s not for another hour and a bit. Shall we continue our meeting, or shall we call this week done?” Neville asked.

There were a lot of heads shaking, but before Neville could dismiss them, Ron spoke up.

“About Dumbledore? Why don’t we use the pebble to call Prongs, Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon and offer them the chance to prank the Meddler?” They'd taken to calling the resurrection stone by the title of 'pebble', the cloak became 'the rag' and the Elder wand was 'the twig', just in case someone managed to over hear them. And of course, Dumbledore was 'the Meddler' with a capital M.

Draco let his head fall to the desk and knocked it against the nearest flat surface. “Why? Why does he do this? How does he do this? Fred, George? He’s your brother, you answer.”

“Sorry, mate.” George replied. “No one has ever figured out how Ron’s brain works.”

“It’s like creating a potion or prank for the first time. You toss in bits of this and bits of that and you end up with something completely unrelated to either.” Fred shrugged.

“That’s why you made him the Raiders’ 2IC, isn’t it?” McGonagall asked Harry.

“Yep. And I think the idea is… as ever… brilliant. The Marauders prank again.” Harry laughed in joy.

“Dumbledore is definitely not going to see this coming.” Moody shook his head.

“Will the castle be left standing?” Snape wanted to know.

“The castle, probably. Dumbledore’s office? Doubtful.” Harry grin grew teeth and became vicious and vengeful. “Time he was reminded that revenge is a dish, best served cold.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \-- The Call Signs and Who They Belong To--  
> Harry = Hellion  
> Archer = Padfoot  
> Ron = Knight  
> Neville = Rapier  
> Draco = Scalpel  
> Seamus = C-4  
> Dean = Easel  
> Hermione = Ledger  
> Luna = Sprite  
> George = Mayhem  
> Fred = Mischief  
> McGonagall = Tabby  
> Bill = Scratch  
> Fleur = Blossom  
> Remus = Moony  
> Tonks = Flossy (candy floss after her hair)  
> Cedric = Paladin  
> Moody = Mad-eye


	11. Chapter 11

_“Yep. And I think the idea is… as ever… brilliant. The Marauders prank again.” Harry laughed in joy._

_“Dumbledore is definitely not going to see this coming.” Moody shook his head._

_“Will the castle be left standing?” Snape wanted to know._

_“The castle, probably. Dumbledore’s office? Doubtful.” Harry grin grew teeth and became vicious and vengeful. “Time he was reminded that revenge is a dish, best served cold.”_

 

Yule.

Yule was one of the Wizarding world’s most sacred times and one that Albus Dumbledore loathed with a passion bred by decades of unwanted gifts.

_Was it so hard to buy a man a pair of socks, for heaven’s sake? Why does everyone insist of giving me blasted books?_

And this year was turning out to be worse than expected, if the piles of flat rectangular parcels were anything to go by. And that didn’t mention the other… complications.

_Why in all that’s holy, have the dead turned up to haunt me? Can they not understand that all I’ve done has been for the Greater Good? And why can no one else see them?_

He stomped his way from the Great Hall, up the stairs to the second floor and down Gargoyle Corridor to the stairs to his office. Up said stairs and into his office. The sight that met his eyes, was enough to make a lesser man cry.

Every book or ornament on his many shelves were individually gift wrapped. In the plainest, dullest wrapping paper he’d ever seen. Each was tagged with a plain parchment tag, on which was written in his dead sister’s hand the name ‘ ** _Alpy_** ’. She was the only one to call him that and if it weren’t for her condition, he wouldn’t have allowed her to.

This was not the responsibility of whomever was pranking him, it couldn’t possibly be, not even Aberforth would do this. He sighed and turned around, back down the stairs and his feet lead him in the direction of the hospital wing.

“Poppy? Poppy, my dear?” He called. He hated doing this, but something must be done.

“Albus?” The matron emerged from her office and looked across the room. “Is something wrong? How can I help?”

“I wondered if you’d care to join me for afternoon tea? I have something I would like to speak to you about.” He asked. He needed someone else to see what had happened in his office, before he could approach the school’s governors for permission to separately ward his office.

“Certainly, Albus.” The matron quickly joined him and after tapping a sequence of decorations on the hospital doors, pulled them closed behind her.

“Poppy?” He asked a lot with just that one word.

“It may be the holidays, Albus, but this is still a school and this is still the school’s hospital wing. This allows me to be notified if anyone, student or staff, touch the doors or attempt to open them.”

“Ah.”

“Precisely. I don’t expect trouble, but one must be prepared for the worst.” The matron informed him.

“Of course, my dear, of course. Shall we?”

The walk back to the Gargoyle Corridor was filled with genial chitchat, mostly about Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, which if Dumbledore was honest, he never expected to hear mentioned together, in such a manner. But Mr Malfoy was smitten with the young muggleborn and his parents were actively encouraging his interest. And Miss Granger was responding in a slightly awkward but positive way. Her parents had written to the Headmaster expressing their concern over his magical guardianship of their daughter, not because of his gender, but over his position, of all things, siting a risk of someone opposed to his political agenda, claiming he was playing favourites due to her intelligence. As a result, they requested that Miss Granger’s guardianship be transferred to her head of house and suggested that he seriously consider transferring any other guardianships that he held, over to the heads of house.

And all four heads had nodded and got on with the mothering of their students, even Severus. The explosion in his class had far reaching repercussions and Dumbledore was still trying to work out exactly what happened. The end result of the explosion was disastrous, at least as far as Dumbledore’s plans, but no one else saw that. The loss of Severus’ DarkMark was worrying, as was the loss of Quirrell, he’d been so sure that the turbaned fool was possessed by Voldemort, but after Quirrell was transferred to St Mungo's, the healers’ scans said otherwise. They claimed it was poltergeist possession that failed, rendering him unconscious and removing a full eighteen months from his memory, the poor man was under the impression that he was still the Muggle Studies Professor and was quite distraught that he’d left the castle and was missing the intervening time.

After the board granted his warding… request, he would have time to decide on a new plan to counter Voldemort’s return, but right now, he had more pressing concerns.

Concerns that escalated dramatically, once he and Poppy Pomfrey reached his office.

It was pristine, every book in it’s place, every ornament gleaming in the candlelight, not a single thing out of place, not a shred of wrapping paper to be seen. His teeth ground and a rumble was silenced before the witch in front of him could hear it.

The next half hour were an exercise in futility, trying to convince Poppy that he and he alone was the intended target of the ongoing pranks happening at the school. Every time, she shot him down, by detailing others who had been targeted. Severus had his robes change colours. Rolanda Hooch’s whistle began to wolf-whistle at the quidditch players. Filius’ classroom filled with feathers. Minerva’s tartan sashes turned to spots. Aurora Sinistra’s Astronomy charts had the constellations change shapes. Cuthbert Binns had been notified that he was on leave for twelve months and various portraits were taking his place, the students were ecstatic over the change. Pomona Sprout found someone was watering her mandrakes with alcohol and the blasted things would burst into song at the slightest bump to their benches. Semptima Vector found that her chalkboards were charmed to erase any mathematical symbol, thirty seconds after it had been written. And that wasn’t to include the pranks the student body fell victim to. The last day of class, every student, in every house, in every year, had their name floating above their head, glowing in the colours of their house, while the staff members’ names were lit in white, the heads of house outlined in their house colours.

When Poppy Pomfrey left, she hurried back to the hospital wing and wrote a long letter to her cousin, Miriam Strout. She was worried about the Headmaster, some of his behaviours were simply baffling. Chilli-seasoned pepper does not go on ice-cream or in tea, nor are the one sided conversations, arguments really, that he would have at any point, normal. Then there were the times that he would suddenly sidestep a perfectly clear patch of floor, or recoil at though yelled at, when there was not a sound to be heard.

He wasn’t a young man anymore, perhaps it was time for an independent health assessment?

 

Some 600-odd miles to the south, William Arthur Weasley, stepped down from the Knight bus and glanced at the notes he’d written on a scrap of parchment. Get off at number 4 Forest Road, Horsham and head for the laneway between the house and the patch of forest to it’s east. Up the laneway for three hundred yards and the house-yard’s gate should be on your right, under heavy muggle notice-me-nots. Password through the wards is ‘Slythindors’.

“Right.” Bill muttered. “Slythindors? Who came up with that bloody tag?” He asked as he crossed the road and entered the lane.

A voice just in front of him, answered him.

“Blame Hellion for that.” A familiar head of red hair appeared out of thin air.

“Does he know you’ve got his cloak?” Bill asked his youngest brother.

“I do.” Another voice came from above and when Bill tilted his head back to look, he saw Harry bloody Potter sitting calm as you please, on a tree branch that reached out over the lane. Harry grinned and leaned back, falling and flipping as he went, to land on his feet in a deep crouch, one hand touching the ground in front of him and the other arm thrown out to the side as a balance, the wand pointing unerringly at Bill. “Wotcha, Bill.”

“What did you three do?” Bill growls.

“Not us, Bill. We’re as much victims in this as you and everyone else.” Harry argues.

“Everyone else?”

“Me, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Draco, Fred, George, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Cedric, McGonagall, Remus, Sirius, Tonks, Moody, you and Fleur.” Harry obediently recited.

“Oh bloody hell…” Bill breathes out.

“Yeah, pretty much says it all.”

“And you’ve changed things?”

“Beyond recognition.” Harry nodded madly, smiling all the while.

“How… What have you done?”

“Voldy is gone, dealt with months ago. Now we’re working on revenge on the old Meddler.”

“You mean…? **_Him?”_**  Bill bared his teeth in a snarl, the memory of a conversation in the Headmaster’s office filling his mind.

“Yep.” Harry chirped brightly.

“Alright. How do Fleur and I come into it?”

“Damned if I know.” Harry shrugged. “I still haven’t figured out how everyone else fits in, yet.” He started walking up the lane and Bill fell into step with him, Ron guarding their backs. “I get some of us… well most of us… but not everyone. Me, yes. Mione, yes. Ron, yes. Remus, yes. McGonagall, yes. From there, it’s a little more vague. Seamus and Dean were my demo experts and they’ve come in handy, but I could easily have worked around not having them. Draco was a master healer and Mione would have been miserable without him. Mind, Ron would have been just as miserable without Luna. Which makes me wonder about Neville, he’s going along fine without Hannah. And Tonks? I’m assuming again, that she’s here for Remus. But you? Fleur? The twins? Moody? Cedric? Not a damned clue.” He lead Ron and Bill in through a twist in the hedge that hid the cottage from view.

“The only thing we can come up with is… both Moody and Tonks are in the DMLE, Moody’s been one of the Meddler’s mates for years and Tonks has only just left Hogwarts. If Moody were to question the meddler’s sanity and Tonks were to question his capabilities? That might back us up as far as de-throning him is concerned.” Ron took up the commentary. “But, again… we could easily have worked around it.”

“Which leads us back to you and Fleur and the others…” Harry sighed.

“Well… how does this boy, Archer, fit in?” Bill asked. “Sure, I agreed to be his guardian, but only because Ron, Fred and George’s letters to Mum and Dad were filled with stories about the lot of you and how they’d claimed him as a cousin. That and I don’t recall any mention of him from before, which is suspicious in itself.”

Ron and Harry looked at each other, who was going to tell the Master Curse-Breaker that Archer had been an Azkaban escapee? Eyes flicked and brows tweaked, lips pulled and heads jerked. Bill just watched, he knew that Ron and Harry were arguing, he’d seen it before, but he had no idea what the argument was over. Harry sighed and nodded.

“Fine.” He muttered, before turning to Bill. “Remember the Copying Adoptions?” Bill nodded, his eyes narrowing. “We used that to copy a boy who was dying. He’d been injured and after looking as his records, our master healer stated it was only a matter of time before he…” For the next few minutes, Harry explained what they’d done and why.

“So you left the real traitor in Azkaban and then switched Black for a dying Evermond.” Bill wasn’t asking a question.

“We did.” Harry nodded. “We brought Davis home and plan to bury him on New Year’s Eve. We want to get a portkey to the Black Estate in Scotland, for that.”

“And now you’ve got the two of you placed in Remus’ care…”

“Yep.” Harry nodded again.

“You managed to somehow manipulate things so that Archer is still the head of family for the Blacks.”

“Uh… no, we didn’t do that, it just worked out that way.” Harry disagreed. “We didn’t have to do anything.”

“Really?” Bill raised a sceptical brow.

“Yeah, we planned to, but Draco did a family tree and that was when it came out. Marius Black was cut from the family, but for some reason, he wasn’t disowned like all the other squibs were. He was Archer’s Mother’s grandfather.” Ron answered earnestly.

“Huh…” Bill grunted.

“We were going to try and do it, anyway… but we didn’t have to.” Harry agreed with Ron.

A pale blonde head appeared from a window and a voice called out to them.

“Oi! Hurry up, you lot. We’ve cut up the meat and the vegies but we need Harry to finish up cooking our lunch. Remus is pants in the kitchen and we’re hungry.” The head disappeared.

Ron snickered. “You should never have introduced Draco to stir-fries.”

“Alright, alright, so Draco’s addicted to stir-fries. You’re no better when it comes to spaghetti.” Harry laughed.

“Nope, love the stuff.” Ron agreed, nodding.

“Come on, Bill. Come and get something to eat and we’ll all tell you where we’re at.” Harry poked Bill’s ribs and pointed to the front door. “And what we plan to do next. Then after that, we’ll show you the studio and leave you to think about it. Just… can you send Fleur a journal and a trunk? The trunks can all access a central wizard space conference room and Hermione linked the journals all together, but they still have a private messaging function, so you don’t have to worry about us reading your love letters.”

“Still a cheeky bugger, I see.” Bill huffed, but he blushed, just slightly.

“You’re married to a veela, mate. Speaking of your wife… how’s she taking it?” Harry asked with a slight grimace.

“Surprisingly well.” Bill wore a similar grimace.

“Which means the explosion is still pending, isn’t it?” Ron whined.

“Yeah…” Bill nodded. “But I might be able to head it off. Knowing that none of you planned this and aren’t to blame, might help. Might turn her attention to working out how it happened and why.”

“I think the why is pretty clear, Bill. Too many people died, that didn’t need to. This… us being sent back in time, this lets us correct that.” Harry replied.

“But is that **_all_**  there is to it?” Bill asked.

“What do you mean?” Ron frowned.

“Well… You’ve already dealt with Vold- You-Know-Who and you’ve plans to deal with the old meddler. What use can Fleur and I be?” Bill sighed.

“Not real sure, but obviously there will be some point that you are vitally important, or you wouldn’t be here.” Harry shrugged. “Think about it as a second chance. We can set about changing the way the Wizarding world is heading, just by using the information we remember. Lucius Malfoy is standing with us this time around, he watched Draco’s memories of the aftermath and the ongoing damage. Needless to say, he doesn’t want to face that. So… he’s standing with us. That’s going to change the Wizengamot and how it faces the future. Then there’s us. Neville and Luna plan to go back and get their Masteries, again, followed by teaching. Draco is tossing up taking over Hogwarts’ hospital, once he has his Mastery back. Ron and the twins will be in Diagon, running the shop, again. Cedric, Dean and Seamus are talking about going into the DMLE and if they do, Moody and Tonks can point them in the right direction. Hermione’s thinking about working with the Unspeakables, this time, she’s not interested in being Minister, again. Remus? Well, we thought about getting him in as the History of Magic Professor, but when McGonagall takes over as Headmistress, she’s going to need a Transfiguration Professor and let’s face it, Moony was dux of his year in Transfiguration. You’re with Gringotts and you’ll do pretty much as you please. Fleur will do much the same… the as she pleases bit, I mean. And me and Archer as still debating, we could go through the Ministry, or stay at Hogwarts, or Archer’s contemplating working with the twins. We’ve options, options we didn’t really have last time, we were forced to go in a particular direction by the Meddler.”

“That is true.” Bill allowed.

“The other alternative is… you’re here just to be Archer’s guardian and seneschal.” Ron added. “That might be enough, in itself.”

Harry and Bill blinked, that had not occurred to either of them.

“Yet another instance of Knight’s brilliance, huh?” Draco asked, looking at Harry and Bill’s stunned faces.

“Yep.” Ron beamed.

 

Alastor Moody listened to Miriam Strout read Poppy Pomfrey’s letter out loud, his head rocking as the healer spoke. When she laid the sheet of parchment on the table between them, he steepled his hands and rested his chin on his joined fingertips.

“She’s worried about his mental state.” He summarised.

“That’s correct.” Miriam nodded.

“I’ve noticed a few things, passed them off as unimportant, but in light of Pomfrey’s assessment, maybe I shouldn’t.” He mused.

“What have you seen?” Miriam asked.

“Since the Potters died, Albus has been searching for something, he’s been away from the school for days on end, leaving McGonagall to deal with it’s day-to-day running. Then there’s his… interest… in the Potter boy. I had to warn him that calling the boy to his office for ‘a private chat’, as he called it, was asking for trouble. He’s the Headmaster, he can’t afford to have a disgruntled rival of Potter’s claim that the Headmaster was acting in an ‘inappropriate’ manner, or that he was calling students to his office for non-school matters. And god help that he invite the boy to his private quarters, like he suggested as an alternative.” Moody answered.

“Oh gods.”

“And that’s not even taking his actions for the school, into account.”

“In what way?” Miriam frowned.

“Albus is convinced that you-Know-Who is still alive and he’s planned a trap to catch him. He’s ‘borrowed’… a copy of the philosopher’s stone from Flamel and is holding it in the castle. A number of staff members were asked to contribute to it’s security, but I’ve a informant in the school, a student and they’ve stated that a first year could easily get passed each of the different challenges.”

“What has he done? What are the challenges?”

“Well… You have to understand that my informant hasn’t been all the way through the course, but he and his… allies… have done their homework and they know exactly what that course involves and they want no part of it.” Moody warned.

“Keep going...”

“The first stage is in a locked room. No additional security. Nothing. The second is within that room. It’s a Cerberus, Miriam, a bloody Cerberus.”

“Oh, hell.”

“They have to get passed the Cerberus and through a trap-door that the beast is sitting on. Under that is a fully grown Devil’s Snare.” Moody paused while Miriam moaned. “Get through that and the next stage is another locked door, only this time it’s been charmed to unlock only for the right key. And that key is one of a hundred charmed to have wings. Oh and there’s a broom leaning against the wall beside the door.” Miriam’s moans became mutterings. “Through that…? I’ll grant that McGonagall’s life size battle chess-set, may give most of the first years a challenge, but I personally know that my informant could beat and he’s not alone in that.”

“[Uffern waedlyd](bloody%20hell).” Miriam fell back into their native Welsh to swear.

“That’s as far as my informant went personally, but his research on the last few stages is solid. Next is a Troll, in an otherwise empty room, then wall of fire that can only be passed by drinking the right potion. Followed by a the stone stage itself, getting the stone from an enchanted mirror. And last is probably the most difficult of the lot. Getting out of a room that has no visible exit.”

 ** _“That’s it!”_**  Miriam screeched. “I don’t want to hear any more. I’ll back Poppy in her request for the Headmaster to be medically assessed. He’s not safe to leave in charge of a school full of children.” She ranted.

“You might want to rethink that.” Moody warned, only to be faced with an irate healer.

“Why?”

“This is Dumbledore, we’re talking about. The Master Manipulator, himself. You bring those sort of demands against him and you’ll find yourself, out of a job and quite possibly without a healer’s licence, too.”

“What do you suggest, Alastor? I can’t let this go, I just can’t.”

“I’m **_not_**  suggesting you do. I **_am_**  suggesting you go about it a different way.” Moody corrected.

“How?”

“The Evermond boy meant Dumbledore called Lady Malfoy in. That let Pomfrey leave the castle to attend lectures and the like at St Mungo's, right?”

“Right?”

“How often are the staff at St Mungo's assessed by healers?”

“Once a month. Why?”

“And the Ministry?”

“The same.”

“Why hasn’t this been done at Hogwarts? Dumbledore can’t let Hogwarts be seen to fall behind the ministry?” Moody smirked, the scars on his face pulling and distorting his grin.

“It should have been done. It’s law, that all those in positions of authority, paid by the Ministry of Magic, must have at least six medical assessments each year. That includes Ministry personnel, St Mungo's staff, Hogwarts staff and it’s the same in any ICW accredited country. It’s been like that for the last two hundred years.” Miriam countered.

“Well perhaps it’s time it was brought to the attention of the Wizengamot that Hogwarts is ignoring an ICW mandated law. And for heaven’s sake don’t let Dumbledore talk whomever into letting Pomfrey do their assessments.” Moody said.

“So, I guess I should be alerting my husband, then. Give him the oh-so joyous task of dealing with the idiots that sit in the Wizengamot, while you and I sit back and watch the shenanigans.”

“No, dear. Now… I go visit Albus and say that my sister found out some interesting information and warn him that St Mungo's will be taking this to the Wizengamot for the next session, while you tell your husband to do exactly that… **_then,_**  you and I watch the shenanigans.”

“How the devil did you convince the sorting, hat that you were a harmless Puff?” Miriam demanded.

“Trade secret, sister dearest, trade secret.” Moody smirked, causing Miriam to laugh and after a few seconds he joined her and chuckled.

 

“Alastor. Come in, come in. What can I do for you?” Albus Dumbledore greeted the old Auror. “I’d not expected to see you until classes resume in January.” He added, casting a sharp glance off to one corner.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect to be back afore then, neither. But…” Moody ignored the ghost of Benjy Fenwick in the corner and stomped across the Headmaster’s office before easing his aching body down into a soft chair, sparring with those bloody kids was going to kill him. “…this shouldn’t be told via the floo.”

“Important, Alastor?” Albus asked.

“Yeah, very.” Moody looked from Albus to various portraits. “But I think you’d best leave the privacy wards down, the portraits may have some information that I’m missing.”

“Portraits? My- er, Hogwarts’ portraits?”

“Yeah.”

“Very well, Alastor, continue…” Albus frowned but sat back in his seat to wait for the Auror to explain.

“I’ve told you in the past that my sister works at St Mungo's, right?”

“Yes, of course. You’ve mentioned it on a regular basis, but I’m uncertain why.”

“Each time I did, was because she’d been to visit and specifically asked me to mention it to you, but she never said why.” Moody started.

“And you didn’t push for answers?” Albus’ brows rose, before he jerked his head to the right.

“I learnt the hard way, no one pushes my sister, if she wants you to know, she tells you, if she doesn’t… well the best course of action is to not ask.” Moody’s years in the Auror corps were all that stopped him from laughing at Dumbledore’s reactions to the ghost’s movements.

“Ah… I see. So what changed?”

“She came visiting last night, on a rant. You’ve gone too far this time, Albus, and the most I can do to help you is to give you a heads up warning.”

Albus blinked, his mind flicking from one thought to another, but nothing stood out. What was he supposed to have done?

“I don’t understand… Too far? In what way?”

“Albus… How long have you been on staff at Hogwarts?” Moody  hedged, trying not to let his focus shift from Dumbledore to Benjy’s ghost.

“I started in the Defence post in 1908. Why?”

“And how many times did a healer from St Mungo's come to the school and assess the staff?”

“Oh… I should think… twice a year.” Albus tilted his head back in thought.

“And did anyone tell you why that happened?” Moody asked.

Albus Dumbledore’s eyes widened as his mind provided the appropriate information.

“Law…” He whispered. “The ICW made it a law that anyone teaching in a ICW approved school was assessed each year.” He suddenly ducked his head and Moody watched as Benjy’s ghost swung a broom towards the Headmaster.

“Close, but not quite. The ICW made it mandatory that all ICW participating countries, have all Ministry paid staff independently assessed medically, at least six times a year. That includes healers, Ministry staff and any school where the school costs are paid by the Ministry.” Moody clarified.

Albus let his head fall back against the high back of his seat and groaned.

“And Hogwarts hasn’t been doing this.” He stated.

“And Hogwarts hasn’t been doing this.” Moody agreed.

“Oh dear…” Albus sighed. “I’ll get Poppy right onto it.”

“No, Albus. You didn’t listen, did you? Independent assessments. Independent, Albus. That means outside of Hogwarts. You have to have either St Mungo's or the Ministry healers do them. No choices there, it’s one or the other.” Moody corrected. Benjy’s ghost faded out through a wall and Dumbledore eased back in his seat, only to tense and sit forward as a second ghost wafted their way into the office. Fleamont Potter had been a formidable Auror and dueller in his time and even Dumbledore had hesitated to challenge him, so having the ghost of Harry Potter’s grandfather cock a hip and sit half-on-half-off of Dumbledore’s desk, as though making himself comfortable, was not something that Dumbledore was pleased to see. Moody waited for Dumbledore to close his eyes in resignation, before exchanging a look of amusement with the ghost of his former partner.

“Oh, dear… Well I suppose I had best get started, hadn’t I?” _I don’t have time for this, right now, but if St Mungo's are going to take it to the Wizengamot, I don’t really have much choice, do I?_  “I wonder who would be the best person to contact?” Dumbledore mused to himself.

“I’d suggest floo-ing Delbert Hobnail in Magical Bugs, his department do the best diagnosis assessments. If not his department, I’m sure he’ll point you in the right direction.”

Something occurred to Dumbledore. “Why didn’t you say something about this sooner, Alastor? You’ve been on staff for almost three months, now, didn’t it occur to you that we hadn’t asked you to attend an assessment?”

“Ah, well, see… I’m only seconded to Hogwarts, the Ministry via the DMLE and Aurors are still my primary employers, so my assessment schedule is still Auror grade, I’m assessed every month on the first of the month, irrespective of whether I’m here or on active duty.” Moody ducked his head a little. “I just assumed that you’d been notified by the DMLE.”

“Oh, yes… That does make sense doesn’t it?” Dumbledore nodded. “Fair enough, fair enough. Very well, I feel the need for an outing, I shall take myself to St Mungo's and speak to healer Hobnail, in person.” He cast a quick glance at the corner of his desk and stood. “Shall we walk to the gates, Alastor?”

“Sure, as long as you can stand being seen with a broken down old Puff like me.”

“Alastor. You know that’s not right.” Dumbledore continued to chastise the other man, as they ambled through the castle. Every so often Dumbledore would spot the ghosts of those that haunted him, but Moody gave no indication that he too, could see them, that would defeat the purpose of them being there.

 

Seated at a kitchen table that put even the Weasley’s to shame, the Raiders and their allies talked as they ate the chicken stir-fry that Harry had made them. Remus, Tonks and McGonagall sat at one end, with Narcissa, Lucius and Snape at the other, while Hermione’s parents sat in the middle on one side.

The Grangers were a new addition, apparently they’d overheard Tonks and Remus debating whether time travelling so far back was a good thing or not and demanded to know what they meant. It took a round-table discussion with Luna taking notes and Hermione writing in a journal to those who couldn’t make it, but the outcome was that the Grangers were brought into the loop. It also meant that the two dentists weren’t quite so worried about Hermione spending so much time in a house full of boys. And now that McGonagall was her magical guardian, her family were able to apply and receive permission to have the floo network connected to their house, this made it easier for the Raiders to get together and plot. As yet Hermione had resisted informing her parents about the access her trunk gave her, to the communal conference space, she was certain that sooner or later she’d have to use it, but for the moment the floo worked just as well.

Beside the adult Grangers, sat Hermione and between her and his parents was Draco. Harry, Archer, Fred, George, Bill, Neville and Dean took the rest of the seats. Seamus’ family gathering was due to start that evening and he’d snuck out during lunch to sit under a tree and participate via his journal, as were Cedric who wouldn’t join them until the next morning and Moody was paranoid that Dumbledore had laid hidden tracking charms on him and wasn’t prepared to go anywhere other than his own home, until he could do a charm purging ritual, unfortunately that took three days to prepare for, so he wasn’t there, either.

“Everyone done eating?” George asked and was greeted by nods, ‘yeses’, ‘yeps’ and ‘yeahs’. “Good stuff. Thank you all for coming, even those that aren’t here in person. To sum up for the Grangers… Yes, we’ve time travelled, or at least some of us have. Professor Snape and the senior Malfoys haven’t, the rest of us have. We’ve removed the threat of Voldemort, but still have to destroy the diary that we are using as a container for his soul shards. We have that planned for the first night back in the castle, Professor McGonagall believes that the sudden influx of students will disorientate Dumbledore slightly, just enough for us to access the RoR and ‘require’ the dormant basilisk. We plan to use the beast’s fangs to kill the diary before we kill the snake, we can’t take the chance of something waking it, and it going rogue in the school. Agreed?” Everyone around the table nodded, they’d seen Harry’s fight with the basilisk, in a pensieve viewing and agreed, it couldn’t be allowed to live. “Thank you. We also removed the last eighteen months from Quirrell, the last thing he remembers was filling out an application for a year’s leave of absence, ‘to gain first-hand experience’, this was shortly before he came into contact with Voldy for the first time, he’s still quite unstable and will be staying in St Mungo's for a while, however, he had expressed horror at being told he’d been possessed by a poltergeist for almost eighteen months and is uncertain if he’ll come back to teach Muggle studies. Professor McGonagall, will you keep us posted on any developments?” At her sharp nod, George went on. “Thank you, Professor. We’ve had Harry removed from the Dursleys, or rather Harry had had himself removed, but either way, it’s permanent. Which is good. Archer is with us, the rat is dead and we’re scheduled to bury Davis on New Year’s Eve. Hermione? Please add clearing Sirius to the next term’s working list, I think we’d all like that done before the summer holidays.” Hermione nodded. “Thank you. Dumbledore’s into his third month of muggle anti-psychotic medication and is clearly showing signs of decreased mental ability and thanks to the resurrection stone we have a cadre of ghosts haunting him, ghosts that only he and us can see.” Again more nods. “We also have paperwork for Harry’s adoption, ready to go, just say the word, Harry.” Harry nodded again. “So… that’s where we’re at.”

George picked up his glass and sipped at the juice it held while he let the others think over what had been said, before continuing.

“Right. New business. Hermione? Any issues raised?”

Hermione raised a hand, as did Draco, Bill and Neville.

“Mother had a thought and I’d like to incorporate it into our schedule. I do believe it may be of use to us.” The once Minister for Magic replied.

“Please explain.” George gestured grandly and ducked as Hermione tossed a bread roll at him. “Oi!”

“George.” It was clear Hermione was warning him to behave.

“Sorry.” George grinned, unrepentantly.

Hermione huffed, but began to explain. “Mother went to a college in the US, she already had her bachelor’s, so only had to study for another four years. The College where she went designated it’s multi-year courses by individual names per semester. We don’t have the same semesters here, but we can break our school year down into two terms. September to December and January to June. I believe that if we were to name each term, for the major event that happened before we travelled, that would make it less confusing for those not currently in first year.”

A few people pursed their mouths or frowned in thought, but soon all of them were nodding.

“Alright, that’s agreed, Hermione. Care to tell us the term names?”

“The term we’ve just completed would be ‘Troll’ after the troll in the girls’ loo.” More nods. “This coming term would be ‘Stone’, but we don’t want Dumbledore to speculate so instead I went with ‘Research’ in regards the research we had to do to find out who Flamel was.” More nods. “First term of my second year, I’m calling ‘Pixies’ after Lockhart letting out pixies in his class. Second term could be ‘Pipes’ after how the basilisk got around the castle. First term for my third year, is ‘Balloon’ after how Harry blew up Aunt Marge. Second term is ‘Snuffles’, that’s what we called Sirius’ Animagus form instead of Padfoot, to keep him secret. Fourth year, first term is ‘Ferret’ after what fake-Moody did to Draco… and yes, I did ask Draco if we could use it, second term is ‘Gillyweed’ in regards to how Harry used gillyweed in the second task. Fifth year, first term is ‘DA’, which is self-explanatory and second is ‘Thestral’ for how we got to London. Sixth year, first term is ‘Felix Felicis’  for how Harry got Slughorn’s memory to find out how many Horcruxes we were dealing with, second term is ‘Inferi’ for the cave that Dumbledore took Harry to, to retrieve what turned out to be a fake Horcruxe. Seventh year, first would be ‘Hunting’ and second would be ‘Showdown’, the final showdown between Voldemort and the Light.”

“And what of afterwards?” Narcissa asked.

“I think there we can just go by the year, can’t we?” Hermione replied.

“Alright… so we’re coming up to the start of ‘Research’.” George paused. “That sounds a bit like hard work, Miss Granger, but I think I speak for all of us when I say the alternative is even worse.” Hermione smiled and shook her head in amusement. “So, coming up to the start of ‘Research’. Anything else?”

“Crouch jnr.” Neville said. “We know he’s not in Azkaban like he should be, but how do we deal with that?”

A few hums and Luna spoke. “Moody’s writing something, who can read it? I’m struggling to work it out.”

“Hand it here, Sprite, I’ve had got plenty of practice translating Moody’s scrawl.” Harry held out a hand for Luna to pass the journal across the table to him. “Hmm… Oh, yeah, that’d work.” He muttered.

“What?” George wacked Harry on the arm with Hermione’s journal. “Speak man, speak.”

“Oh, Moody says we should have a muggle, meaning one of the Dr’s Granger, write a note to the DMLE and send it by owl post. Something along the lines of ‘Crouch’s elf is guarding illegal contraband in the Crouch basement.’ Address it to Bones or Scrimgeour, they won’t let it slide.”

“Dr’s Granger? Would one of you do that, please?” The two dentists smiled, nodded and turned to their daughter. “Anything else?”

“The Carrow twins.” Draco said. “We can’t let them do whatever it is they did last time.”

“No, we can’t. That means the Raiders are going to see action. Are you ready for that?” George asked.

“No, not yet.” Harry answered. “We will be by Vernal Equinox, but this is personal, involving one of our own. While we need to do this, we can’t let our emotions sway us, Neville was affected by whatever they did and he’s not certain that he can stay removed enough to take part in the mission. As such, he’s removed him self from the active list and suggested that Archer take his place. We have been training with Archer for the last month and we are all confident that by the equinox, he’ll be able to be inserted into the team, in almost any position.”

“In that case, Neville can help me set up an infirmary in a trunk and he, George, Remus and I will be tac-support.” Draco suggested. “I’d like a couple of these trunk-infirmaries, please. One for the dorms, one for the shack and one for here, there’s already a basic one at the manor.”

After looking at each of the Raiders and Archer, George nodded. “Fair enough. Hermione? Would you please note that and get together with Draco to make up a shopping list for our ‘adults’?” Hermione pulled a fresh piece of parchment towards her and began writing. “Thank you. Next?”

“Fleur?” Bill asked.

“Of course. We miss our delicate Blossom.” George sighed. “How do we do this? What do we do?”

“I want to send her one of those journals and a trunk, but how?” Bill shook his head.

“What about a house-elf? I mean sending it by international owl post takes so long.” Hermione screwed up her nose.

“What about an international floo-call? Can we send things that way?” Harry asked.

“No, only legal documents can be forwarded by floo-calls.” Lucius said. “But… If she doesn’t want to use the trunk to access the conference space, we have Summer Houses in Poigny-la-Forêt and Pamiers, that are connected by floo to our manor. I’m sure that Narcissa would take Dora or William to meet with the Delacour family and take it in person. We already have connections with Bertrand and Apolline, we can use them to our advantage, surely. And perhaps… once Dumbledore is removed from Hogwarts, we can look to improving the quality of our classes and have the two Delacour girls transfer and be fostered here, or at the very least, have them spend some time here, during the holidays.”

“Yes, please. I want to see my wife.” Bill was adamant.

“Well, given that you exchanged magical vows, there is the strong possibility that magic still considers the two of you as married and as far as the veela are concerned, that overrides any modern Wizarding laws. At the very least, she would be permitted to leave Beauxbatons for each weekend, as long as it didn’t interfere with her classes. That being the case, we’ll  happily lease you the Pamiers house, until Fleur and her sister have graduated, that way she can floo to Wiltshire and apparate here, or you can travel to her, just as easily.” Lucius offered.

“I would suggest…” Archer tapped the table to gain their attention. “That as Lord-guardian and seneschal to House Black, Bill offers a betrothal contract to House Delacour, for the hand of their eldest daughter, Fleur. That way, regardless of if magic does or doesn’t consider you still married, the French and British Ministries will still be pacified. The same as Remus and Dora have done. Use Andi and Cissa as the primary points of contact for the two ministries, anyway.”

“We’ll leave that to Bill, Lucius and Narcissa to sort out, shall we?” When everyone agreed, George continued. ‘Just keep us up-to-date, please? Next?”

“The only other thing I have, that we said had to be done before the end of this school year, is Archer’s adoption.” Hermione answered. “There are now three options, that have been put forward. First is Remus. Second are Lucius and Narcissa. And today, Bill’s added he and Fleur to the running. That puts Archer as either… Harry’s brother, Draco’s brother or Bill’s son. Question is… which is he going to choose…?” Everyone turned to look at Archer. “While Archer’s thinking about that… Are we still giving the Professors gifts for Yule? If so, who gets what?”


	12. Chapter 12

_“The only other thing I have, that we said had to be done before the end of this school year, is Archer’s adoption.” Hermione answered. “There are now three options, that have been put forward. First is Remus. Second are Lucius and Narcissa. And today, Bill’s added he and Fleur to the running. That puts Archer as either… Harry’s brother, Draco’s brother, or Bill’s son. Question is… which is he going to choose…?” Everyone turned to look at Archer. “While Archer’s thinking about that… Are we still giving the Professors gifts for Yule? If so, who gets what?”_

 

“Well…” Harry huffed. “We all know that Dumbledore gets books, but… remember the mirror? Back in… ‘Research’…? Or late ‘Troll’ …? No. Early ‘Research’, Dumbledore didn’t pass along the cloak until Christmas. Anyway… when he caught me sitting in front of it, he asked me what I saw. I told him that I saw my family and that’s when he told me he was moving and warned me off of looking for it. As he was escorting me out, I asked him what he saw. His answer was himself holding socks, apparently everyone keeps giving him books.”

Lucius chuckled, Narcissa smiled and McGonagall snickered, while most everyone laughed outright.

“Laugh all you want, but… Does anyone ever remember **_anyone_** giving Dumbledore **_anything_** but books or sweets?” Harry said, causing the adults to stop and think.

McGonagall frowned, Lucius tilted his head back to look at the ceiling, Narcissa pursed her lips, while Remus, Tonks and the other travellers hummed in thought.

“No…” McGonagall said very slowly.

“I don’t believe I have, either.” Snape nodded slowly.

“It was always books.” McGonagall went on.

“Or sweets.” Remus said.

“Exactly.” Harry gestured as though he were pointing at them. “And that’s why we’re not going to give him books. Or sweets. Anything but books or sweets.”

“I’ve been knitting a Dr Who scarf.” Hermione offered and huffed as people smothered their amusement. “I can’t help it. It stops me from trying to step in and correct some of the rubbish our housemates say is their homework.”

“Dumbledore will like it better than the elves did.” Ron snorted.

“I know, I know. But it’s such a waste… giving it to him, I mean.” She’d come a long way from hiding knitted hats around the common room, knowing that an elf faced with dust or dirt was going to react the same as a dog faced with a ball. They were genetically conditioned to react in a certain way and over centuries, elves came to believe that they would loose their magic if they weren’t bonded to a family or to a place of high magical saturation. Breaking that belief was nigh on impossible and after Dobby’s death, Hermione felt it would be better to champion better care for elves, rather than demanding they discard their beliefs.

“Maybe, but it will portray us in a positive light to the Meddler.” Harry reminded them.

“True.” Hermione huffed.

“I’ve got a sketch of the Scottish moors. I was going to give it to Mother, but she asked me to do one of her garden. Go figure.” Dean shrugged.

“Great, Dean, thanks. Anyone else?” Harry scribbled a few lines on a scrap of parchment.

“I’ve some Alihotsy that’ve just started flowering.” Neville offered. “I potted up a few, wasn’t sure how many would take and I wanted one for Mum, Gran and I took it in last night. Dumbledore can have one of the others.”

“That’s very generous of you, Neville.” Narcissa smiled gently at the boy.

He laughed. “It won’t go with his medication, it’ll increase the absorption rate of the anti-psychotics.”

“I don’t have a problem with that.” Draco’s laugh echoed Neville’s. “Do you?”

“Nope.” Neville sat back and sipped at his hot chocolate.

“We’ve got an animated statuette of Fawkes.” Fred said, gesturing between himself, George and Ron.

“We might not like Dumbledore much, but that bird saved your life.” George went on.

“Him…? Him, we like.” Ron finished.

Luna looked at Harry. “I knew you were going to do this, I just knew it.” She shook her head, not sure whether to be disgusted or proud of the man she considered as a brother. “Alright, I’ve got some Augurey plumes I picked up on one of Daddy’s expeditions to Ireland, I knew this was coming so I kept one aside. I trimmed it ready, it will make an excellent quill.”

“Thank you, Luna.” Harry replied quietly. “I appreciate your sacrifice.”

“I know, otherwise I wouldn’t offer it.” The blonde girl smiled across the table at him.

“Cedric’s offering a wooden letter opener, carved from a hornbeam burl, in the shape of a quill.” Hermione said.

“Nice.” Harry nodded.

“And Seamus is putting up a bottle of Boomberry Brandy.” Luna laughed.

“Of course, he’s providing an alcoholic beverage.” McGonagall sighed. “Alright, I’ll add in a pair of fluffy bunny slippers.” Her hard-done-by tone caused everyone to laugh.

“Moody’s putting up a set of goblets with automatic potion detection charms.” Hermione laughed as she read. “He’s been wanted to get rid of them for a while, he doesn’t like his… guests… to know if he’s plying them with potions.”

“Good old Moody.” Tonks’ laughter joined Hermione’s.

“We’ve a desk set.” Lucius sighed as he offered. “It’s reputed to have been a gift from one of the early Headmasters, to a Professor. I procured it for… Riddle, but it wasn’t rare enough for him to use.”

“It’s hideous.” Draco smile. “Dumbledore will love it.”

“My neighbour insists on gifting me with afghan rugs and her taste in colours is very similar to the Headmaster’s. I’m be more than pleased to pass over a selection for his enjoyment.” Snape managed to present the offer with a straight face, not a sneer or a smirk in sight.

Harry turned to Tonks and Remus. “Just you two left now. What are the newly betrothed couple going to give the Headmaster? Huh?”

“Like Luna, I had a feeling this was coming.” Remus huffed. “So we’ve been out collecting feathers, too. One of the werewolf kids I tutored in the Bahamas was the grandson of an Ojibwa Chippewa shaman and taught me how to make a magical version of a dream catcher.”

“Mostly from Scottish birds, but I managed to scrounge a few Fwooper feathers from Regulation and Control.” Tonks added.

“Brilliant!” Harry beamed at them.

“And we’re all assuming that you’ll be putting up socks, Potter?” Snape asked.

“Yep. Dobby taught me to knit, the summer after the tournament and it’s been my go to for meditation, ever since.” Harry started.

“None of the team have bought socks since joining the Raiders.” Draco laughed. “Which reminds me, I want my bed-socks, please.”

“Already on it.” Harry nodded. “So I made him six of the most god-awful garish socks I could, mix-and-match, of course. And just to make it worse, I added some core-instability runes to them, he won’t see them, they’re in the same yarn as the sole of the foot. They’re so small, they won’t register at all and will only give minor fluctuations, but when that’s combined with the anti-psychotics, the Alihotsy and our ghosts?” He spread his hands out an gave an innocent smile. “It’ll be just another symptom of his decline.”

A few chuckles floated around the table.

“How did you avoid Slytherin?” Narcissa asked seriously.

“Occlumency.” Harry sighed. “Bloody good occlumency shields.”

“Yes, that would probably work.” She nodded.

“Um… Moody’s writing and I’m not sure I'm following him. Harry can you check it?” Hermione passed her journal to Harry and waited while he read Moody’s contribution.

“Oh, hell…” Harry grunted.

“What now?” Hermione whined.

“Moody’s got a portrait informant in the Meddler’s office, she’s reported back that he’s been muttering about whether or not he should be using compulsions on me, as I seem to have no intention of investigating his traps on the third floor. Moody’s asking if we should do something, to let Dumbledore know, that I’m not a Horcruxe anymore.”

“Crap.” Draco sighed.

“Shoulda seen that coming.” Dean nodded.

“So what’re we going to do?” Neville asked.

“Oh…” Ron exhaled slowly, he face taking on that contemplative expression that Draco hated.

“No, no, not again…” The blonde boy whined, and let his head fall to the table.

“Would someone please explain?” Hermione’s Father, Oberon asked.

“Ron comes up with the most unexpected ideas, Daddy, they come out of nowhere and Draco hates them, because he can’t work out how Ron does it.” Hermione answered, her fingers already running through Draco’s hair.

“Oh, I see. Well, what’s the plan, Ron?”

“The basilisk and the Room of Requirement.” Ron answered.

“See?” Draco thumped his head on the table. “How is that connected to Dumbledore wanting to compulsion Harry?” Draco muttered.

“Ron?” Harry asked. “Some more details?”

“Today’s the solstice, right?” Ron waited for an answering nod. “Right, so if we went to Hogwarts tonight, or this afternoon really, and emptied the Room, we could deal with the basilisk and the diary at the same time. Then we come back here and set up a scenario where you have an episode, of some sort, that requires medical treatment, Snape or Remus can take you to Hogwarts’ hospital wing, Pomfrey will do some scans and you can bet your last knut, she’ll get Dumbledore down to corroborate her scans. And if they say that you’re not a Horcruxe, anymore, we know that he’ll go to check his self-updating file on Riddle and it’s going to show him as deceased. Plus while Dumbledore’ in the hospital with you, Neville and Archer can alter the book on Horcruxes that we all know he has, you know the one I mean. Hermione, can you and Draco write up something up that says that soul containers have a finite lifespan? Detail a few limitations, maximum of fifty years and that making more than one will only ensure that there is no chance to actually using one to return to life as anything other than a golem, as a human body requires a third of a soul for a muggle system and just under half of a soul to maintain a working magical system. I’m sure that the two of you can work out some technical details and justify the percentages.”

“Whoa…” Fred gasped almost silently, looking at his brother with wide eyes. This was not something he’d ever seen Ron do, not like this.

“And the episode here?” Harry asked.

“We all get ready for bed, you scream, we come running, find you on the floor or floating in mid-air, blood everywhere, your scar burst open. Snape or Remus will floo you to Hogwarts, the rest of us hot on your tail.” Ron sat back.

“It would take a little more finesse and some careful time-turning, but we could make that work.” Remus rocked his head from side to side as he thought his way through it.

“It would have to be me, that takes Potter to Pomfrey, Minerva and I are the only ones here that have emergence staff access direct to the hospital wing and Dumbledore knows we were going to be here tonight.” Snape offered.

“And I can head straight to the Headmaster’s office and inform him of the emergency, that way, he can hurry off to the hospital while I’m still in his office, waiting to escort the rest of you to the hospital wing, that will give Neville or Archer time to alter Dumbledore’s book, before we are all present and accounted for.”

“Archer does the book. He can be the first to leave the office, right after the Meddler, but with the cloak, he can duck back into the office to do the book. Do we know where he’s likely to keep a book on Horcruxes?” Remus asked.

“Yes. He’s got a shelf hidden inside one of the stone pillars, not either one his bed is in front of, but the next one around, clockwise.” McGonagall answered.

“I can do that.” Archer nodded.

“But the basilisk? I’ve rethought that.” Harry said. “We can’t require it from the Room, not if we want it dead permanently. The Room does what we require, but once we leave, it reverts back to the Room of Lost things and anything we ‘require’ is returned to Lady Magic’s domain. We wouldn’t actually be summoning the real basilisk from the Chamber, but an exact replica of it.”

“Damn, so we’re going to have to go down the chute again.” Ron grimaced.

“Maybe not, mate. We could ‘require’ a passage or a door from the Room to the Outer Chamber.” Harry offered. “We’d still have to open the actual Chamber and take our own rooster, but we’d be able to bypass the chute, we’d just have to have someone stay in the Room to keep the door open.”

“And once it’s dead, we can extract the venom, levitate the beast into an expanded trunk and place the whole lot under a stasis, for later examination.” Snape ended.

“Exactly.” Harry nodded.

“Alright, let’s get planning.”

 

Albus Dumbledore startled as his floo burst into green flames, just a few minutes after midnight. He blinked in surprise as Minerva McGonagall stepped from them, her pale green robes and face speckled and smeared with blood.

“Minerva?” He leapt to his feet. “Are you injured? What happened?”

“Oh, Albus! It’s all Harry’s, Severus has taken him straight to Poppy. It’s… it’s…” She seemed to not be able to speak.

“What happened? Tell me.” He said sternly.

“It was just a few minutes ago… the children went to bed… there was a scream… it was Harry… we got to his room to see… Oh God, Albus… his scar burst open and this horrid green fire came out… the screams, Albus… Oh, his screams… and the blood… it went… it went everywhere…” She was gasping and crying and hugging herself. “The… he was in so much pain… Severus has taken him… to Poppy… _Oh, Albus_ …”

“Severus has taken him to Poppy, you say?” Albus asked urgently.

“Yes, yes. I said I’d tell you and ask if the others can come through? Harry woke the whole house, Albus and the children are so scared, they need to know he’ll be alright.” Minerva begged.

“Of course, Minerva, of course. You wait for the children and I’ll go down to the hospital.” Albus didn’t wait for Minerva to reply, but hurried from his office and down into the school.

 _This could be Voldemort’s return._ It wasn’t how Albus pictured it at all, but really? Who could say how a Dark Lord would resurrect himself.

Down the Turris Magnus and around to the hospital, Albus ran. He burst in the doors to find Poppy working feverishly over the small boy and Severus standing at the foot of the bed, watching closely.

“Poppy?” He asked.

The medi-witch didn’t answer, she just held her hand up in a ‘wait’ gesture and kept working.

“Severus?” He then asked.

“The children had just retired, I doubt that any of them had even reached their beds. Potter screamed, there was so much pain in that one sound, Albus. I’ve never heard the like of it before. Not even those tortured at the Dark Lord’s hands, screamed like that. Lupin and I were in the kitchen, we’ve been trying to come to some sort of agreement about Godric’s Hollow, unfortunately we’re stalemated, there. Minerva was at the base of the stairs, she was heading up to the second floor where Granger and Lovegood were to sharing a room. She reached Potter’s door a few seconds before I. It was… there was a gout of green fire bursting from his head and so much blood. It was almost like a fountain. And I could see his magic, Albus, it burst from him in waves, pulsing waves that were clearly visible. Then one of the waves reached the fire from his head. It turned it to smoke. Gods, the smell was putrid, like rotting flesh that was then burnt. It was enough to make the children, who’d come into the hall, sick. And Potter’s just standing there. His head fountaining blood and green fire and his magic pulsing out of him bright blue waves. Albus, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Severus almost babbled his reply.

“Oh, my… From his head?” _Could that be the Horcruxe escaping? Or taking him over?_

Poppy Pomfrey stepped back from the bed. “Albus can you check my findings, please?” She handed over a strip of parchment.

Albus read the parchment and blinked. _What? My binds are broken and the Horcruxe is gone. And the blood glamours based on James' blood, are fading. This is not good._ He waved his wand over the boy and checked the fresh parchment. _Same answers. Hmm… maybe a soul assessment? Would that tell me the name of the soul in control of this body?_

“[ _Intus nominabit animan_.](name%20the%20soul%20within)”  Albus chanted and waited for the spell to filter through the boy’s body and core. The seconds passed and slowly a line of letters appeared above the boy.

**H.J. Potter.**

“Oh, my…” _The boy is no longer a Horcruxe, he will no longer have to be sacrificed to destroy Tom Riddle. What now?_  Albus wondered to himself. _If Tom is… wait…_ He turned to Severus. “You said a gout of green fire?”

“Yes.”

“And when the blue waves from his core met it, it turned to smoke?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to the smoke?”

“It rose to the ceiling of the room and puddled for a few seconds, but with each wave from Potter’s core, it dissipated a little, collapsing in on itself, almost like it was water sucked down a drain, it spiralled into nothing.” Severus answered.

“Ah…” _No, that wasn’t a Horcruxe escaping, not according to my research. I’ll need to check The Tollmans’ Index, to confirm. But my bindings? Should I look to replace them? Or the glamour? If he’s no longer at risk, do I need to replace them? No, let them be for the moment. I can always reinstate them later if need be._

“Albus?” Poppy asked.

“No, Poppy, it’s fine. My scans corroborate yours. Significant blood lose, I’m not sure if replenishing potions are going to be enough or whether you’ll need to inject him with fluids, but I’ll leave that to your discretion. And a massive drain on his core, I note that there are some minor bindings or charms placed in infancy, that weren’t removed, that have broken or are fading, but nothing else of note.” Albus replied.

“Yes, that was my finding, too.” Pomfrey nodded. “Very well, I shall endeavour to treat the lad. I may have to contact St Mungo's, if he doesn’t respond, Albus.” She warned.

“Poppy, you are the medi-witch, I shall defer to your judgement. Now, I have left Minerva in my office, waiting for Mr Potter’s friends to arrive, I shall go an assure them that he’s in the best of hands.” Albus nodded to Poppy and indicated to Severus to join him. “Severus, this may change things, my research has so far not covered anything of the nature of this event.”

“But is that because you weren’t looking for it, Albus, or because it wasn’t there?” Severus asked. “I mean no disrespect, but you were researching how Riddle could return and _**how**_ to eliminate a Horcruxe, not what happens _**when**_  one is destroyed.”

“True, too true. And that may have been an oversight. I’ll browse through The Tollmans’ Index and see what they have to say. They’ve certainly been the go-to for information, I’m sure that Octavius Nott is regretting gifting it to me, his last year here.”

“Quite likely, Albus.” Severus paused, as Minerva and a herd of children appeared hurrying down the hall. “Minerva, Lupin. Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood, Mr’s Weasley, Mr Thomas, Mr Evermond, Draco.”

“Professors.” The children all spoke together.

“How’s Harry?” Archer Evermond asked, before pulling himself up. “Greetings this Yule, Headmaster.” He gave an awkward little bow.

“The season’s greetings to you, too, Mr Evermond. And Mr Potter seems to be stable at present. Madam Pomfrey is treating him, as we speak, however he has lost a lot of blood and blood replenishing potions may not be sufficient to counter that, in which case she will have to have someone from St Mungo's come and set up an intravenous system, to inject fluids directly into his bloodstream. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. The only other significant concern is a case of magical exhaustion. That may take a week or two for him to recover from. You may go down to the hospital, but please be aware that Madam Pomfrey may not allow you to stay long.”

“Thank you, Headmaster.” Archer sighed in relief.

“I’ll see that they stay out of the way, Albus.” Minerva nodded in response to Albus’ pointed look.

“I shall head back to the cottage and inform Miss Granger’s parents and Miss Tonks.” Severus said. “I would surmise that Mr Potter will be under Madam Pomfrey’s care for a few days and as such, if you like, I am prepared to bring your gifts, here?” He asked the group.

“Oh, would you? Oh, Professor Snape that would be great. We could see people’s reactions instead of just reading a thank-you note.” Miss Granger beamed, almost bouncing in place.

Snape nodded and waited while Minerva and Lupin herded the children down the hall.

“Albus, I’m not comfortable leaving Miss Tonks with Miss Granger’s parents, I know it’s not recommended, but I would suggest allowing them here. They like us, were quite alarmed at Mr Potter’s… event, shall we call it. Plus, as Miss Granger stated, they’ve gifts for each other and for the staff. It would be impolite, in the extreme, to deny the Granger’s attendance, when they come bearing gifts.”

“In all honesty, Severus, I’m not sure that I can face another year of books.” Albus sighed.

“Albus, these children… they are… books are unimportant to them… people are important to them. I know for fact, that at least some of the gifts Miss Granger indicated, are not books. And with only a handful of students, does not the castle feel empty of the season’s cheer?” Snape assured him.

“Oh… very well, Severus. Today is Yule. If ever there was a day to make allowances, today would be that day.”

“Thank you. May I send a patronus to Lucius and Narcissa? They would surely be pleased to join us.”

Albus Dumbledore sighed. “You may. If you’ll fetch the Grangers, I shall enchant a pair of bracelets for them. It would not do, for them to not be able to see our beloved Hogwarts, in anything less than her full glory. Now, would it?” Albus chuckled.

 

An hour later, Harry sat up in a hospital bed, for a change, not the one he remembered as the one he occupied so frequently, in that other future. Gathered around him were those he considered family and peeking their heads in through the hospital wing’s doors were the Hogwarts staff. A nod to McGonagall and the staff quietly filed in, they’d been updated on the night’s drama and were hesitant to disturb the calm.

“Come in, come in.” Tonks chirped, from her perch on the bed next to Harry’s.

“Mr Potter will be staying here for at least the moment and as such will likely not be home for the passing out of Yule gifts, tomorrow.” Snape informed the staff. “Yule is a special time for family and friends, for Mr Potter to miss it, would be a shame. The headmaster has generously allowed Mr Potter’s guests to join him for a short time, this evening.”

“Long enough for gifts to be handed out, anyway.” Remus snorted.

“Ah. I see.” The tiny form of Flitwick was the first to join them, he conjured himself a plump armchair. A few more flicks of his wand and matching chairs appeared in a semi-circle around Harry’s bed. “Season’s greetings, Mr Potter.”

Harry gave him a weak smile and lifted a trembling hand to wave.

“Mr Potter, please lay back. If you exert yourself, you will leave me no alternative but to insist that your guests remove themselves, until you have improved considerably.” Madam Pomfrey said sternly.

Harry gave her a half-grimace, half-smile that was just barely visible through the semi-clear magical oxygen-generating mask he wore, and nodded, settling back against the pillows that Fred and George had piled against the headboard.

“Mr Evermond? Would you care to do the honours?” Snape gestured to the bag of gifts on the bed at Harry’s feet.

“I can do that, Professor.” Archer grinned and reached for the bag. He handed small brightly wrapped parcels out to people, after quickly reading the name on each one.

One by one, the professors, the children and their adults, opened their gifts. Each of them expressed their appreciation of the items they’d been given, before sitting quietly and chatting, it took time but eventually the Headmaster re-joined them. His face was tired and his eyes resigned, when he slowly settled into a chair.

“How are you fairing, Mr Potter?” He asked.

Harry gave him a small smile and a brief thumbs up, but said nothing behind his mask.

“I’m glad for you, my boy.” Dumbledore smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ve a gift for you… Well… I say, I have a gift… in actuality, the gift is from both Fawkes and myself.” He laid a long red and black feather on Harry’s feet. “It’s not magical, like his tail feather that’s in your wand, but it is still a precious thing.” Archer lifted the feather for Harry to see. “I had Scribulus’ add a quill grip to it for you, this will enable you to change the nibs.” He laid a small box beside Harry’s feet. “A quill holder for your desk.”

Harry smiled brightly and looked to Archer.

“We’ve also gifts for you, too, Professor.” Archer said quietly.

“That’s not necessary, Mr Evermond.” Dumbledore objected.

“No, but we still did it, anyway.” Archer handed Dumbledore the first of their gifts, knowing that the shape and size of it would prompt him to think it a book.

The Headmaster held back a sigh at the familiar shape, but he was loath to upset anyone, particularly Potter in his fragile condition. His fingers slipped the ribbon from the gift and let the paper fall open. His eyes widening, slightly, in surprise at the sight of a box instead of the expected book.

Lifting the lid on the box, his eyes met what appeared to be a feather, but closer inspection said otherwise. It was wood, a carved feather with a sharpened tip, like a flattened quill, perfect as a letter opener.

“Oh, my…” Dumbledore whispered. “How lovely, please be sure to thank Mr Diggory for me…”

Another parcel was deposited in front of him. On opening it, he found not another book but a beautifully detailed sketch of a Scottish moor. The next was a gilded timber desk set. Then a plant in a pretty pot, in a hanging birdcage-shaped terrarium, it’s tiny buds just beginning to open. A multi-coloured scarf slid from the next box and puddled in his lap. Followed by a pair of powder blue fluffy slippers, complete with twitching rabbit ears. Then it was what appeared to be a sun catcher, but the note with it indicated that it caught bad dreams and not the sun’s light. A set of delicate goblets were next, the note in Moody’s rough hand stated that both had extensive potions-detecting charms embedded in them. A squat bottle of Boomberry Brandy nestled in a bed of the dried herbs that Fawkes adored. A pair of what appeared to be handkerchiefs, in a rainbow of colours, held a card that stated they were in fact, shrunken blankets.

The last three gifts had Albus sitting back and wincing internally, thankful his fears had come to naught. An animated statuette of Fawkes, it’s wings moved, it’s head lifted and tilted, while it’s body sidled along the delicate wooden stand. An Augurey plume, a stunning primary flight feather, deep rich green with a faint golden shimmer, all ready for him to use.

And socks.

Not just any socks but hand knitted, vibrant bed socks. Six of them, all having the same colours, but all of them individual in design. The colours of Hogwarts graced each one, but from there the pairings failed. One had owls lining the cuff and a host of fallen feathers trailing down across the foot. One had small squares that upon closer inspection were picture frames, that was the Fat Lady and one down to the left was Sir Cadogan, Dumbledore’s eyes picked out a number of the portraits. One had candles, obviously meant to imply the Great Hall’s floating candles. One had tiny envelopes, again symbolic of the student letters. One had the house mascots chasing each other around the sock. And the last had a griffin and a hippogriff flying around the battlements of the castle.

These children… Albus had been teaching at Hogwarts for over eighty years, now, and in all that time, he’d received less than a handful of gifts that weren’t books, but these children and their families… Not one book to be seen.

“Thank you…” He whispered. “Thank you, they are… truly beautiful…” A tear left his eye.

Harry nodded fractionally and lifted a hand to touch Archer’s leg.

“Season’s greetings, Headmaster.” Archer spoke for Harry, his hand resting on the other boy’s shoulder.

That was almost too much for Dumbledore to bear, he made his excuses and gathered up his precious gifts. Wandering up to his office and quarters, all he could think of was Harry Potter. _The boy is no longer a Horcruxe. Tom is gone. Harry doesn’t have to die. The Tollmans were quite clear on the limitations of Horcruxes, why did I not see that before? Why did I skim passed that? If I’d known that Harry’s core was going to reject Tom’s Horcruxe, I wouldn’t have placed bindings on the boy. But that’s over, now… What do I do now? All I’ve done for the majority of my life is oppose Dark Lords and prepare others to do so. What do I do now?_ Albus Dumbledore climbed the stairs to his office, his arms clutching at boxes. _I think… I’m tired… Have I ever been this tired, before? I don’t know… I need a vacation…_

 

Harry was released into Narcissa’s care the next morning, with Pomfrey’s smile following as he left. Narcissa, Tonks and Juliet Granger positioning him on a sofa with stern instructions to not move. The other children settled around him, the adults on the expanded sofa opposite them.

“Oh, thank you.” Harry whispered, as Remus handed him a bottle of water and ruffled his hair. “Ron? You’re the chair.”

“Thanks, mate.” Ron moved to sit at one end of the sofa. “Cedric would you take notes?” He asked.

“Sure.” Cedric pulled his cushion towards the coffee table and the portable writing desk, there. “Ready.”

“Excellent.” Ron said. “So… that went well.” People started to laugh, in varying degrees of amusement. “Now that the Meddler is aware that Harry’s not a Horcruxe and that Voldy’s dead, that should make him back off a little and give us some breathing room.” Heads nodded. “So, what else have we still got that has to be done now?” Cedric slid over a slip of parchment. “Ah. Harry and Archer’s adoptions, Neville’s parents and the Meddler’s ongoing treatment.”

“Don’t you feel bad about giving him the gifts, that you did?” Oberon Granger asked.

“Not really.” Ron answered. “We’re not intended to harm him, we just don’t believe that he should be in charge of impressionable children. We don’t dislike him, just his methods.”

“Speak for yourself.” Fred muttered. “I can’t stand him.”

“Yeah, but you never could, even back then, you didn’t like him. And that’s what I mean. None of us have changed the way we really feel about him, not personally anyway. Some of us like him, some of us don’t. But… All of us feel that he needs to be removed, if it hadn’t been a unanimous decision, it wouldn’t have happened.” Ron explained.

“Ah, thank you, I wasn’t sure of your… objectivity.” Oberon nodded in thought.

“Oh, no, Daddy. We laid it all out, after the war. We tracked everything that had happened from the day that Tom Riddle received his letter to the Battle of Hogwarts and Dumbledore’s involvement in those events. It wasn’t nice, the old Meddler could have stopped this while Tom was still at school, but he didn’t even try. But we also did it as a group of about thirty(?) people?” Hermione questioned Luna, who nodded. “About thirty people. The Meddler was involved in almost everything that went wrong, from the 1920’s onwards, at least in some way or another. His promotion of forgiveness and rehabilitation allowed the Darker witches and wizards space to plot and plan the destruction of our world. Both worlds.”

“The unanimous consensus was if Dumbledore had been stopped, even in 1990, roughly ten thousand lives would have been saved and Wizarding Britain wouldn’t have been on the verge of collapse.” Bill said, from his seat in front of a window. “If he’d stopped Tom Riddle from becoming Voldemort, we probably would be a hundred thousand people better off.”

“Ah…” Oberon exclaimed almost silently.

“Yeah. We’re just taking actions that were agreed upon by a committee appointed by the Wizengamot… albeit one that won’t happen, now.” Neville went on.

“We took oaths, Daddy, oaths that are still binding and will be while-ever there is blood in our bodies. Oaths to Lady Magic and the betterment of the Wizarding World.” Hermione begged her Father to understand.

“We have a chance to fulfil those oaths.” Draco stated. “And fulfil them we will.” His voice was calm and quiet but as resolute as it was possible to be.

“I see…” Oberon nodded in thought for a few moments. “Very well. You know the world you came from, I will accept that you are doing everything you can to avoid that happening, again.”

“We are.” Hermione was a firm as Draco.

“Alright, back on track…” Ron huffed. “Adoptions, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Archer and Harry responded.

“What’s the verdict?”

“Remus is adopting me.” Harry stated.

“And Archer? Where are you going?” Ron glanced down at the parchment. “Malfoy’s, Bill or Remus?”

“It’s just occurred to me that there is a fourth option available to Archer.” Lucius said. “Yes, he can be adopted by others, but he’s also the Lord-Designate of House Black. As a Lord or Lord-Designate he can adopt others.”

“In what way?” McGonagall asked.

“Archer can adopt William just as easily as William could adopt him.” Lucius explained. “The difference being, that if William were the adopter, Archer would become his son, but if Archer were to adopt William… William would become his brother. He still wouldn’t be able to claim the Title, only Archer can do that, but it would remove any chance of manipulations. Adopting an older brother who is already his seneschal would secure Archer’s independence and doesn’t have to impact on his muggle guardianship, in any way.”

“But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of proposing an adoption? As far as the muggle government is concerned?” Juliet asked.

“No, not really.” Remus answered. “The true purpose was to remove them from Dumbledore’s control. My adopting Harry in the muggle world means that there’s no way that Dumbledore can get Harry sent back to the Dursley's, even if they returned to England.”

“And adopting Archer, would mean that he never has to return to the orphanage.” Tonks added.

“But if he adopts William, doesn’t that happen in the Wizarding world?” Juliet asked.

“It does, but I work for Gringotts.” Bill shrugged. “Having identities in both worlds is essential for a curse-breaker, we have to deal with muggle tomb-raiders and governments on a regular basis.”

“It would only take Moody’s contact adding in a single piece of paper to have Archer having a long-lost relative. An Uncle, maybe or a cousin…” Remus hummed. “Either way, Archer’s safe. It all comes down to Archer and where he wants his future to go.”

Archer looked over at Fred. “Sorry, mate. I’m going with Bill and me adopting each other. That way, to the muggles he’ll be my Father, but to the magicals he’ll be my brother. I can always do with another brother.”

“That means.. it’s you and me, then, huh Harry?” Fred grinned, a glint in his eyes.

“Yeah, Fred. Sirius was damaged by Walburga, he can’t have kids, so Archer’s already decided that Remus and Tonks’ first kid will be his heir.” Harry answered.

“So… what about you? If you and Fred exchange contracts, where does that leave the Potter title?” Lucius asked.

“Well, I’m seriously thinking… and we’d need to get your Father involved, Luna… of adopting Luna as a sister and making her kids my heirs.” Harry shrugged.

Lucius tilted his head as he ran the possibilities through his mind. “Yes, yes, that could work. It would leave no recourse for House Malfoy in reclaiming my sister’s descendants back into the House at any point in the future, but I do believe that Pandora would prefer your option to my doing so. And it would give Luna a greater degree of societal respectability and hopefully stabilise her internal Magics.”

“Bill…” Ron’s voice cut through the discussion.

“Aw, crap, he’s going to do it again.” Draco whined.

“Bill.” Ron repeated. “You’re the eldest of us, right?”

“Right.” Bill couldn’t see where Ron was going with this.

“Then have Archer claim you as a Son of House Black and as a brother. Later he can do the same with us. We’ll still be Weasley’s but we’ll be Weasley-Black’s and didn’t you tell Remus there was a marriage contract between Houses Potter and Black still pending?”

“There are.” Snape nodded.

“Harry adopts Luna as a sister, while Archer adopts me as a brother. Then it can go either way. Fred and Harry or Luna and me. Not even Mum can argue that.”

Draco was quietly thumping his head on the table and while Lucius watched, his son lifted his head just a fraction and winked at him. The older man blinked and swallowed a laugh.


	13. Chapter 13

_“Harry adopts Luna as a sister, while Archer adopts me as a brother. Then it can go either way. Fred and Harry or Luna and me. Not even Mum can argue that.” Ron explained._

_Draco was quietly thumping his head on the table and while Lucius watched, his son lifted his head just a fraction and winked at him. The older man blinked and swallowed a laugh._

 

The Raiders stood together, their trunks shrunken and tucked into their pockets. Each had a satchel slung over their shoulders and most had a pet, either at their feet or sitting on a shoulder.

“I take it, you are all ready to go?” Remus said as he entered the conservatory.

“Yes, Remus.”

“Yes, Moony.”

“Yeah, _Dad_.”

The answers came from different people.

“Glad to hear it, kiddos. A quick update for you. Aunt Minnie says that St Mungo's have finished and will be handing down their reports and recommendations today. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but you can be fairly certain that some people are going to be asked to leave Hogwarts.”

“With Severus’ change in attitude since the removal of his DarkMark, he’s been an excellent teacher.” Hermione said. “I know that many of the upper years are now speculating that the DarkMark was responsible and are using his current attitude and teaching methods as supporting evidence.”

“Yes, Moody wrote that Snape’s turn-around has been noticed and that OWL and NEWT students’ grades have already increased. So, the chances are, he’s safe, but let’s not rule anything out. Yes?” Remus raised an eyebrow.

“If they try and remove Snape from Hogwarts, they’ll find out just how powerful Houses Black and Potter are, when they work together.” Harry snarled.

“We got this, Harry.” Archer tapped his friend on the nose. “Worst come to worst, we’ll hire him for private study on the weekends.”

Harry looked at Archer and huffed a laugh. “Right. We can do this.” His fingers tightened around the strap of his satchel and he took a deep breath. “Let’s get going, before I change my mind.”

The other children and Remus laughed and nodded, the children and adults reaching out to take hold of the length of silk ribbon that Remus held out.

“Hogwarts’ Express.” The two words activated the portkey and deposited the five children and three adults on the platform.

“Ooh, I hope you’ve got some other way of getting us home, Remus, that was dreadful.” Juliet Granger groaned.

“If we wait until the majority of parents have left, we can floo home.” Remus answered.

“What about apparating them?” Hermione asked.

“Nope, I never got the hang of multi-person apparition. I can take one person side-along, but not two.” Remus informed her.

“And, honey? I prefer the floo to side-along, any day.” Oberon Granger added, wrapping an arm around his shaky wife.

“Floo it is, then.” Hermione laughed.

“Alright, everyone on the train. With no classes tomorrow, you should know what’s happening by midnight, try not to get into too much trouble before the weekend.” Remus huffed.

“There you are, why did I think you lot would be early?” Bill exclaimed, as he emerged from the throng of parents and children.

“No idea, Bill.” Dean laughed.

“I’ve news.” Bill bounced on his toes. “The guardianship papers are done and approved, both muggle and magical. I lodged Archer’s request to adopt me, with the Wizarding Family Services Department and they see no reason it will get knocked back, but we still have to allow five working days for people to lodge their objections. And… I told Mum and Dad…”

“Ooh ouch…” Harry winced.

“Eh… not so bad. I pointed out that I was sort of a Black, anyway, via Cedrella and Lucretia. Mum wasn’t too pleased, but I played the ‘he’s an orphan and wants to choose his own family’, card and eventually Mum caved. Dad cornered me afterwards and reminded me that Cedrella and Lucretia eloped to avoid Black Marriage Contracts. I told him that Archer was planning to adopt Ron and the twins as brothers, too and that Harry was looking to adopt Luna as a sister. Ron’s already got his eye to a contract with Luna, that would be the Potter/Black contract. Dad nodded and did a [bludger backbeat](quidditch%20move%20where%20the%20beater%20knocks%20the%20bludger%20backwards%20instead%20of%20forwards) and told me that there was a Potter/Prewett contract, too. How do we plan to get around that?” Bill ended with a question.

“That will be down to Fred and I, I assume.” Harry said. “Give us a week to hammer out some details and we’ll make a move.”

“You know Dumbledore’s not going to be happy about you being gay.” Bill warned.

“Yeah, tough potatoes. I’m not changing for him.” Harry snorted.

“Just make sure you make it very clear, otherwise Molly’s likely to try and pair you up with Ginny.” Neville added.

“Not happening, not again.” Harry’s voice was hard and cold.

“Definitely not.” Bill remembered the look of devastation on Ginny’s face as she ran down the stairs in Grimmauld Place, into their Mother’s arms. He also remembered the rage on Harry’s face as he bluntly informed the Weasley’s why he hadn’t gone to Fred’s funeral and why he’d hexed Ginny and why he had ordered her from his house. He remembered Molly and Harry’s argument over Harry not wanting to marry Ginny. He remembered the horror on Molly’s face when Harry had stated, that he’d dissolve the House of Potter, disband the name and take the name Dursley if he had to, to make them understand that it was his life and he’d do as he bloody well pleased and marrying Ginny was **_never_** going to be a part of it.

“You know damn well, it was your Mother’s conditioning that caused Ginny to think that way.” Hermione said. “You need to make her understand that Harry is his own person and may the gods help anyone that tries to change that. Molly Weasley and Dumbledore included.”

“Why don’t you let slip that Harry has asked Archer to think about adopting Fred as a brother so that that Potter/Prewett and Potter/Black contract can be covered in one contract?” Luna suggested.

“Either that or say that you heard Harry and Remus talking about the Potter/Prewett contract and when Remus mentioned Ginny, Harry told him that girls were gross, he was gay and Fred was cute.” Dean added.

“Actually…” Remus tilted his head in consideration. “I’ll go one better.” He took one step back and bowed to Bill. “William, Seneschal to House Black, I would request a meeting between myself, Remus Lupin, Seneschal to House Potter and Lady Muriel Prewett, the Regent Prewett, in regards the matter of a pre-existing Marriage Contract between our Houses. I would ask that you, being already known to both parties, be the intermediary and broker an agreement between our Houses.”

Bill blinked and grinned. “Seneschal Lupin.” He bowed response, well aware of the eyes they had drawn. “I shall, right way, approach Lady Muriel and present her with your request. Where might she send communications to you?”

“House Potter have purchased a premises in Diagon Alley, number ninety-three. Myself and Mrs Andromeda Tonks, the Correspondence Manager for House Potter and Mother of my betrothed, are currently using the premises as an office, sorting and dispatch area. I can be reached there, most weekdays, between nine and four. And of course, Lady Muriel is always welcome to attend in person, if she so wishes.” Remus answered.

Bill bowed again. “Then a missive from House Prewett will be sent there.”

The two men nodded and stepped back, letting the formality fall.

“Don’t forget to tell Snape, he might want in on this.” Bill laughed after giving each child a hug and disappeared back into the crowd.

“Gee thanks, for the warning, Remus.” Harry huffed in fake annoyance, causing his friends to laugh.

“Oh get over it, Potter, and get on the train.” Remus hugged him close and whispered in his ear. “I remember what it’s like when a Potter falls for a redhead. You do the emotions and I’ll do the paperwork. Deal?”

“Deal.” Harry squeezed Remus as tight as his eleven year old arms could. “I miss you, already.” His head burrowed into Remus’ chest.

“I’ll see you Saturday, pup.” Remus said, as he gently unwound Harry’s octopus-like grasp.

Hermione and Luna took Harry’s arms and gently lead him onto the train and into the compartment where the Weasley boys and Draco were waiting.

“What happened?” Fred’s voice was sharp.

“Remus requested a formal meeting with regent Prewett to discuss the Potter/Prewett contract.” Dean answered, as Hermione and Luna handed Harry over to Fred.

“Ah…” Fred eased Harry down onto the bench seat beside him and pulled the smaller body close. “Mum’s going to try and wrangle Ginny into the mix.” He warned.

“Remus and Bill won’t let that happen.” Luna assured them.

“Bill remembers Harry’s threats and I’m sure he remembers exactly how serious Harry was about it.” George grimaced. “Ginny’s got no chance.”

“Good.” Hermione nodded sharply. “I mean, she wasn’t a bad person, once she got passed all that, but oh gods, was she a pain until she did?”

“Better to nip it in the bud early, than to let her imagine a future that will never happen.” Ron nodded.

“Does your Mother have issues with same gender relationships?” Dean asked quietly, glancing at Seamus.

“Nah…” Ron drawled. “Uncle Gid was gay, so’s Charlie. It’s more that she’s been telling Ginny stories about how wonderful Harry is and how he’s going to have to marry, one day, to rebuild the Potter name. Poor Gin’s idolised a Harry that doesn’t exist and never will. She’s going to be gutted when she finds out that the stories Mum’s told her, are just that. Stories.”

“Stories created and encouraged by Dumbledore.” Fred snarled.

“Fred…” Harry whispered and wriggled until he could look at the other boy. “Let it go, please? Dumbledore’s not an evil man, not like Voldy. He can only do so much and with the public and the Wizengamot refusing to act, he’s had to do it alone. Yes, his actions were wrong, but who stood up to him and told him that? No one. McGonagall tried, but back then, she was too used to following his lead. Hell, the entire British Wizarding World followed his lead. We’re the first to even think about doubting him.” Harry looked so tired. “Let it go, please?”

Fred sighed and let his head fall down against Harry’s. “We’d just got started, Harry. Bloody hell, we hadn’t **_even_** got started. And he took that away from us.”

“Yes, he did, but the alternative was a Voldy-controlled future. Which was worse? Bearing in mind where we are right now. This Dumbledore hasn’t done that, not yet. He’s a pain, but we’ve got that sorted. Don’t let him control how you feel. About him, about Ginny, about me, about anything. Don’t let him control you. Please?” Harry almost begged.

Fred sighed again and tiredly nodded. “I’ll do my best, Hellion.”

A tapping at the compartment door saw the occupants lift their heads, as one, and look over. Percy and his girlfriend Penny stood outside in the corridor. George stood and under the cover he provided, Ron disabled the locking charms.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Perce, just trying out some of the stuff Uncle Remus and Professor Snape showed us over the holidays.” George said. “Come on in. Have a seat. What up?” He asked at the decidedly worried look on Percy’s face.

“Mum’s taken Ginny to St Mungo's.” The older boy answered. “She… Mum thinks she ate something in the garden… you know what Ginny’s like when it comes to berries.”

“Yeah…” George answered resignedly, in a long sighing breath.

“Mum found her this morning in the garden with stained lips, she was laying under the chook house, she was unconscious.”

“That’s why she sent us with Daddy?” Ron asked.

“Yes, Daddy told me not to tell you until the Express left the station.” Percy whispered. “I’m sorry, I wanted to, but Daddy made me promise. I’m sorry.” Percy started to cry.

George pulled Percy into his arms and plopped him down between he and Fred.

“This is Ginny, Perce, you know our little Gig-gin. Remember when she ate those Bangberries? She farted and burped tiny fireballs for a few days. Then there were the Wiggenberries? Every time she coughed, she’d spit out a bunch of petals. Or what about the Starthistle seed pods she ate? Every word she said came with fireworks.”

“She’ll be fine.” Fred huffed. “Gin’s a tough little bat.”

Fred and George remembered this, Ginny would spend three nights in St Mungo's, while they purged the juices from the raw Boomberries that she’d eaten, from her system. The only long-term side effects of the incident would be that Ginny’s hair took on a more metallic sheen and her blasting curses would be a lot stronger than would otherwise be expected, for her core strength.

“But she’s so small…” Percy whispered.

Fred and George snorted.

“You want to tell **_her_** that, Perce?” Ron laughed.

Percy blinked and let his mouth fall open. “Oh… No, no, I don’t. No way.”

“Exactly.” Ron grinned.

“You really think she’ll be alright?”

“Bet you a custard tart, that by Friday, she’s back to normal.” George held up a hand to Percy. His brother studied it and after a few heartbeats, nodded sharply.

“You can have it. If she’s home by Friday, I’ll even ask Mum to make you some fudge.” Percy answered.

“Deal.” George grinned.

“Um…?”

“Yeah, Perce?” Ron asked.

“What… what’s with Fred? And Potter? I mean… it looked like they were upset about something.”

Ron glanced at Harry and Fred and saw the marauder-glint in Harry’s eyes and the ‘about to wreak havoc’ look in Fred’s and let his match theirs.

“Oh, no, not upset. Pleased, very pleased.” Ron smirked and watched as the other travellers realised what he was about to do. Hermione looked torn, Dean was struggling to contain his laughter and the others were little better.

“Pleased? Really? What happened?”

“Look Perce, you know Harry’s the Potter head, right?” Ron began. “And Archer’s the new Lord-Designate Black?” Percy nodded in response to Ron’s questions. “They’re going to have to rebuild their Houses from the ground up. Harry’s the last Potter, there’s no one else, no one at all. And Archer? Well, there’s plenty of us that have Black blood, but none of us can claim the name Black.”

“So, both of their Seneschals are looking at ways of securing their Houses.” Hermione took over. “And the easiest and least objectionable routes, are adoptions and Marriage Contracts, or rather Betrothal Contracts. Right?” Percy nodded. “Right. So, Remus, Professor Snape, Bill and Mrs Tonks went hunting and found a number of different types of contracts.”

“Should you be talking about this, Miss Granger? In front of us, in front of me, I mean?” Penny Clearwater asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Harry huffed. “It’ll be all over the train, by the time we get to Hogsmeade. Remus made sure of that.”

“I’m… I’m sorry, I... don’t understand.” The Ravenclaw prefect frowned.

“There were two contracts that caught Snape and Bill’s eyes.” George explained. “One for Black and Potter and the other for Potter and Prewett.”

Percy sat back and hummed in thought, his mind racing.

“That’s… Mum’s going to-”

“…not be happy.” Ron cut him off. “Remus, Snape, Bill, Mrs Tonks and Harry aren’t interested in Ginny.”

“Not at all.” George agreed.

“But…” Percy trailed off. “If not Ginny, then who?”

“Fred.” George answered.

“Fred? But…”

“But what? They cover both Houses.” Hermione stated.

“Yes, but they’re both males, that means no children.” Penny replied.

“And **_why_** can’t we adopt kids?” Fred asked, sharply.

“Or have a surrogate?” Hermione added.

“A what…?” Penny asked.

“A surrogate. Muggles have a way of making a woman pregnant, but not having the children she carries be hers, genetically.” Hermione explained. “Male couples often ask a related female to provide an egg to be fertilised by their partner and carried by a surrogate.”

“If they’re going to do that, why not go all the way and use a gender-swap potion?” Cedric asked. “That way one of them could carry their child.”

“Or use a bit of both…” Ron suggested. “Gender swap one of them, long enough to get some eggs and use them. Still have a... a... suss-o-gate, though. I can’t see Harry or Fred wanting to be a woman, long enough to carry a baby.” Ron mangled the unfamiliar muggle word.

Percy and penny pulled their heads back a bit and blinked.

“Ah… that could a bit touchy... with the old Families, I mean, but yeah, it could work.” Percy muttered.

“And anyway, who’s to say that either Archer or I can have children? Not everyone can, you know.” Harry entered the conversation for the first time. “But regardless, of that, Ginny’s not on the list of possible contractee’s for my House. She’s a girl and I don’t like girls.”

“You know that you’ll grow out of that, right?” Percy asked, with a grin.

“No, I won’t. I’m gay. Girls are either gross or sisters and boys are either enemies, brothers, Uncles or cute. Fred’s cute.” Harry made sure to present the image of a shy boy, pushed to admit a secret.

“Oh… Oh, I see… That’s different.” Percy backpedalled. “Such a contract with House Prewett would mean only Fred or Charlie, then.”

“Exactly.” George nodded. “Now you see why Ron said, Mum’s not going to be happy.”

Percy’s eyes widened and his face went slack. “Oh, hell…”

“And to make it worse…?” Ron went on. “Remus spoke to Bill on the platform. He asked Bill to ask Aunt Muriel for a formal meeting to discuss a Contract between Houses Potter and Prewett.”

Percy went a little pale, while Penny frowned.

“That’s not how it should go.” She said.

“Ah, but you’re forgetting that Remus is Seneschal to House Potter and Bill is Seneschal to House Black. Remus asked Bill, as Seneschal Black to approach the Regent Prewett on the behalf of House Potter.” Hermione explained. “He didn’t speak to Bill Weasley, but to a peer of equal stature, William the Seneschal of House Black.”

“Ooh…” Penny whispered, now she understood.

“And that’s how you plan to rebuild House Potter?” Percy asked, then paused as the rest of the travellers entered the compartment.

“Hey, guys. Interesting rumours floating about the train.” Cedric grinned.

“Yeah… Does it go…?” Dean quickly told them the truth behind what had happened on the platform and what they’d told Percy and penny so far.

“You know… You lot have the craziest stuff happen to you.” Cedric just shook his head. “So, where are we at?”

“I asked, if this is how you plan to rebuild House Potter?” Percy asked again.

“It is. It also provides a pathway if something were to happen to Harry.” Draco replied.

“How?” Percy didn’t understand.

“Well, let’s say Fred and Harry exchange Betrothal Contracts? If something were to happen to Harry and he was killed, Fred would be given the chance to stand, not as Harry, but as Harry’s husband. If he accepted, his eldest child would be seen as Harry’s child, thus continuing the Potter line. If they were to exchange Marriage contracts and something happened to Harry, all Fred’s children would automatically be seen as Harry’s.” Draco explained.

“However, that’s not all we plan on doing.” Harry joined in.

“It’s not?” Penny asked.

“No. This requires a little backstory, so bear with me, okay?” When Percy and Penny both nodded, Harry went on. “The summer of 1980, You-Know-Who was a clear and present danger and actively recruiting an army. Abraxas Malfoy, Draco’s grandfather, was a staunch supporter of his and had Compelled… Compelled, potioned, blackmailed, Imperiused, whatever you want to call it… he forced Lucius Malfoy to join the Death-Eaters. You-Know-Who’s next goal was to have taken Abraxas’ only daughter, Pandora, and use her to breed himself some children, before disposing of her. But Pandora wasn’t a Ravenclaw for nothing, she saw the writing on the wall and did a runner.” Harry looked askance at Luna, who nodded. “Pandora had just seconds to escape and only managed because Lucius bought her those seconds, by objecting to the plan, in front of you-Know-Who and was Crucio-ed for his efforts. But Pandora got away.”

“She met up with one of her fellow Ravenclaws and explained what had happened. She was taken to her housemate’s cousin, who agreed to help her.” Draco took up the tale. “Xenophilius Lovegood took her to Ireland and the two were married within minutes and Luna conceived before the hour was out. Grandfather and You-Know-Who were furious, Aunt Pandora was disowned and Father was punished for his ‘disrespecting’ his lord’s authority.” He snarled. “Grandfather made sure that Pandora couldn’t be returned to the family.”

“Daddy’s not stable, he hasn’t been since Mummy died.” Luna added, seemingly out of nowhere.

“It’s not just Xeno that’s not stable, it’s the Lovegood Family Magics, they didn’t approve of Pandora.” Draco explained. “She came from a darker Family and the Lovegood Family are light and the two didn’t go through the usual acclimatisation period. Light and dark Family Magics don’t mix too well and Xeno and Luna are paying for that.”

“Is there anything that can be done to help?” Penny had forgotten that most of these kids were firsties and was treating them according to their intelligence, just as she would with most Ravenclaw students.

“Yes, and we plan to do that. Draco and Lucius can’t bring Luna into their family, Abraxas made sure of it. Neither can Archer, because he’s Head of House to Draco, via his mother, and Draco shares blood, within three removes with Luna, as well as Luna’s Malfoy maternal great-grandmother was a Black.” Harry said.

“But Harry? His blood connection with Draco is only via a blood adoption, which has a different set of rules and he shares no blood with Luna, at all… or not in the last two hundred years, anyway.” Archer said.

“Which would allow Harry to bring Luna into his family?” Penny was trying to follow the convoluted story.

“Yes. If I adopt Luna as a sister, it will enable her to access Potter Family magics and likely stabilise her own internal magics.” Harry said.

“Ooh… Ooh, yes, yes, I can see that would…” Penny whispered almost silently.

“But…” Harry gave a smirk worthy of a Slytherin. “That won’t be happening until after Remus, Snape and Lady Muriel confirm and sign the existing contracts between our Houses. I want that secure, before I move to the next stage.”

“You’re a little young for planning a Marriage, aren’t you, Potter?” Percy asked.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, debating the merits of what was running through his mind. Making a decision, he opened his eyes and looked at Percy. The older boy met Harry’s gaze and what he saw were not the eyes of an innocent child, but someone that had seen pain and suffering.

“I have no family, Percy. My parents are dead, my Mother’s sister wishes that **_I_** was dead. I want a family. This is the only way I’m going to get a family of my choice.” Harry whispered.

“I see…” Percy hummed again. “Alright, Pott- No. Alright, Harry, let me know the outcome, please. I’ll be pleased to welcome you to the family.” The eldest Hogwarts-bound Weasley stated quietly, his attitude not quite, but almost, pompous and he held out a hand to Harry.

Harry clasped Percy’s hand and responded, just as seriously.

“Thank you, Percy. I hope that my Seneschal and Lady Muriel can settle this quickly. I am uncomfortable with the future security of my House being in the balance.”

“Is there anything I can do, to assist?” Percy asked.

“We, Percy.” Penny corrected.

“We.” Percy nodded to his girlfriend, giving her a small smile. “Is there anything **_we_** can do to assist?”

“Can you write to Mum, please?” George asked. “It’ll have more weight coming from you, instead of us?”

Percy nodded. “I can do that.”

“And what would you like me to do?” Penny asked.

“Do the same. Write to your family and tell them, what the rumours on the train were… and what the Seneschals to Houses Black and Potter said on the platform.” Hermione answered.

“Certainly.” The blonde fifth year said.

 

They settled back into their dorms, as quickly as possible, before hurrying off to their study room. Harry was fairly certain that Dumbledore would have been too busy with the medical assessments to put listening charms around their study area, but he wasn’t going to take any chances, so he and Neville spent a few minutes throwing up some of Hermione's privacy charms that only allowed the listener to hear discussions on pre-planned subjects. In this case school and the quickly approaching exam season.

It was only then, that the two time-travellers joined the rest of their friends and allies gathered around the large ovular table.

“Who’s chair this month?” Ron asked.

“Cedric.” Hermione answered and the boy wearing a black and yellow tie, took the seat at one end of the table. “And I’m scribe.” She touched her wand to the cartouche laid into the woodwork in the centre of the table and waited patiently for the table to open it’s hidden compartment, before retrieving up the notebook it held. “And it would be nice if some more of you boys would add yourselves to the scribing list.” She chided.

“Mione, Mione, Mione. You know full well that Harry’s writing is worse than Moody’s.” Ron shook his head in fake disappointment.

“But yours isn’t, Ron.” Hermione smirked.

“Maybe not, but you know I’d much rather pay-up and have you or Luna do it.” Ron replied with a cheeky grin.

“And Molly wondered why you and I weren’t a thing.” Hermione shook her head in amusement.

“Oh, the look on her face when you said you were going to live the Malfoy's.” Ron laughed.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Cedric tapped the butt of his wand on the table. “Not all of us were there for those events, don’t spoil the pensieve viewing. Everyone, sit down, please, we’ve only an hour before curfew.” A few people threw the Puff an apologetic look as they took their seats. “Thank you. Professor McGonagall? Would you give us an update on the staff assessments?”

“Of course, Mr Diggory.” Professor McGonagall looked around the table. “It went better than expected and certainly a lot quicker. Professor Sprout was identified as having a minor blood disorder, Severus will be brewing her a series of potions to rectify that. Mr Filch was deemed unfit to continue and the house elves have requested that Hogwarts not replace him, they would like the extra work, as many young elves are reaching maturity and don’t want to leave the school. Professors Flitwick, Babbling, Vector, Sinistra and myself have been completely cleared. Moody is cleared by the DMLE testing and not Hogwarts', so he’s right to continue. Twycross, is likewise, a ministry employee, that we see only for a few weeks, each year.” She paused while hermione caught up.

“Adelbert Stippling, Cuthbert Binns and Silvanus Kettleburn are out. Silvanus and Cuthbert aren’t physically capable of dealing with any emergency and Adelbert’s eyesight is such that he’s not aware of how many students are actually in his classroom at any given time. Rolanda Hooch has been referred to a specialist at St. Mungo's regarding her eyes, if she wants to keep the alterations, they need to be assessed as medically safe. As for Sybil Trelawney, at the very least she needs new glasses. Charity Burbage has been found to have unacceptable levels of cheering potions in her system and will spend a week in St. Mungo's coming off them. At this point, it’s unknown whether they are self-applied or if she’s the victim of external dosing. Dumbledore mentioned the possibility of Quirrell resuming his position, but that bubble was burst by the healers, Quirrell is weeks away from being released. Severus has a slightly unbalanced core, but due to the incident back in October, St. Mungo's are giving him a tentative clearance and want to repeat his assessment in a month’s time. However, the incident has been documented and his change of attitude is plain to see and like the senior students, St. Mungo's believe that the DarkMark had a bearing on his previous disposition. They are theorising that it’s removal has been responsible for that change and his core unbalance.”

From his seat opposite her, Snape nodded.

“Dumbledore’s assessment was… interesting. The minor fluctuations in his core were documented as were the unexplainable physical movements. We know they’re in reaction to our ghosts, Dumbledore knows they’re in reaction to the ghosts, but the assessors didn’t and he wasn’t about to tell them that he was being haunted by ghosts that no one but he, could see. He also struggled slightly following some of their directives and remembering some of their lists. However, it was decided, with some controversy, that his condition was not severe enough to warrant his removal as Headmaster, but that he will join Severus, in monthly assessments. If there’s a change, our medi-healer can notify St. Mungo's. The other thing to come out of the assessments, was that Poppy, as a medi-witch is not qualified to run the entire hospital wing, on her own, as she has been doing. St. Mungo's are insisting on a fully qualified healer, preferably one that has specialised in children’s health. Dumbledore was given a list of names and told that, if he didn’t correct the situation, then St. Mungo's would take over the hospital wing and remove it from his control.” She ended and sat back.

“How is that going to affect us… as students and for our plans? Draco? Hermione? Harry?” Cedric asked.

“I’d prefer not to let Kettleburn go.” Harry grimaced. “What if Professors McGonagall or Snape were to suggest that instead of firing him, have Hagrid work as his practical assistant? And don’t forget we need to get Hagrid cleared, sooner or later.”

“Or if we have to let Kettleburn go, can we get Grubbly-Plank to take his place, instead of Hagrid?” Ron asked. “We like him, but he’s got no understanding of how dangerous things are to the students.”

“Agreed.” Minerva pursed her lips. “I’ll have a word with the assessors, Board of Governors and the Headmaster.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Cedric nodded to her politely.

“Other than that? There’ll be no classes for History of Magic, Muggle Studies and Magical Theory, at least for this week.” Professor McGonagall went on.

“And the Headmaster has already approached James Broadbent and myself, to inquire if we would be interested in sharing the post of Hogwarts’ Healer between us. The options are alternate days, weeks or months, it’s something that Mr Broadbent is considering, he and I will need to meet and discuss the matter… Once he’s decided, that is.” Narcissa added in her serene voice.

“Thank you, mother.” Draco smiled at his mother, as she sat beside Professor McGonagall. “You might want to also suggest a different time dispersal, Broadbent being on duty from Monday morning to Friday lunch and yourself from Friday morning to Monday lunch or vice-versa. That gives both you and he a few hours on Monday and Friday mornings, were both of you are here. You can do a handover, brief each other on the incidents that occurred on your shift. And of course, one of you and Pomfrey will be on hand for the quidditch weekends, with the other being on call if things get dire.”

Narcissa nodded in thought. “The Headmaster has left that to our discretion, so I shall certainly raise the option with him. Thank you, my dragon.”

“And other than that?” Ron asked.

“Keep on with Dumbledore’s treatment and that’s about what we anticipated.” Harry shrugged. “Getting things on record was the important part. Other than Cedric and the twins, we’ve all sat our NEWTs, so the changes in staffing won’t really have that much of an impact on us.”

“And we’ll see that Ced and the twins are ready for their exams.” Hermione added. “Although… The twins might be passed that, anyway. We’ll assess everyone, over the summer.”

Cedric gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks, I’ll take whatever help I can get.”

“Same here.” Fred joined in, gesturing between George and himself.

“So… that’s staffing dealt with… Next?” Cedric asked Hermione.

“Um…” She studied the schedule quickly. “Oh, Neville’s parents.”

“Ah…” Archer grunted. “That means dealing with the Lestranges and Crouch jnr, right?”

“It does.” Harry answered. “You’re the Head of House Black, only you can deal with Bellatrix.”

“And as the House of Lestrange is only a minor House, they became subservient when they married into House Black. And as the current Head of House Lestrange is in Azkaban, that passes Regency over to House Black.” Narcissa added.

“And I’m The Black.” Archer gave a toothy grin, slightly reminiscent of a predator on the hunt.

“You are.” Narcissa nodded genteelly. “And Bella used a Black Family curse on the Longbottoms, not just the cruciatus.”

“So… removing the curse, breaking it? How much of Frank and Alice will still be there?” Snape asked.

“Well, that’s an unknown. They obviously weren’t tortured into complete insensibility, they still are aware of their surroundings and of people, to what degree is uncertain, but they are aware. Franklin is the grandson of Callidora Black, that gives him a degree of protection from the Family curses, Alice too, as they bonded magically. This means that instead of them being almost comatose, they are ambulatory and, as I said, have a level of awareness. Removing or breaking the curse, should return to them a significant portion of themselves. The effects of the cruciatus should be well and truly out of their system by now.” Draco replied, showing his time as a Master Healer.

“How did they go last time?” Moody asked.

“We hadn’t got that far. We’d only just figured out that they were under curses and not cruciatus after-effects.” Neville sighed. “We were planning a series of curse-breaking sessions, but never got the chance. The first was due to start the day after we… travelled…”

“Ah…” Moody grunted.

“Yeah…” Neville sighed.

“We’re flying blind.” Draco added. “But we’ve got the schedule and the curse-breaker, so we’re good to go, when Neville tosses the quaffle.”

“Consider it, tossed.” Neville nodded. “Everyone says mum and dad were kind of brilliant, I’d like to actually meet **_them_** , not the locked-down golems inhabiting their bodies.”

“Alright, so what is the order of action?” Cedric asked. “Harry?”

Harry tiled his head as he considered what had to be done. “First is Rabastan, disowning him. Second is breaking the marriage contract between Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Third is Rodolphus and disowning him. No…” He paused. “First is Rabastan. Then Rodolphus. Then the marriage contract.”

“Why the change?” Archer asked.

“You’re only Regent because of that marriage contract, so if you cancel it? Bang. No more Regent. You need to do the disowning, first.”

“But… won’t disowning him do the same?” Ron asked.

“It will, but as Archer is The Black, it won’t matter, he can still break the contract anyway, just from the Black side instead of the Lestrange side.” Harry explained and Ron pushed his chin out as he nodded. “After that, it’s disowning Bellatrix. And then we’re ready to start on the Frank and Alice, part.”

“Order again, please, in note form.” Hermione requested.

“First, disown Rabastan. Second, disown Rodolphus. Third dissolve Bellatrix and Rodolphus’ contract. Fourth, disown Bellatrix. Five, assess Frank and Alice. Six, work up a schedule of sessions and their contents. We might be lucky and the removal of Bellatrix from House Black, may be enough to break the curse, who knows?” Harry answered. “But let’s not bank on that. Better to be pleasantly surprised than bitterly disappointed.” He warned Neville.

“Got it.” The other boy nodded. “But pretty much anything is better than they have now.”

“True…”

“Now, the catch is… Archer might be Regent for House Lestrange, but he’s still only Lord-Designate for House Black.” Harry held up a hand. “That means he can do points one and two, but we need Bill to do points three and four. **_But_** … points one through four have to happen consecutively. Preferably, within a matter of minutes. We don’t need someone catching on and trying to stop us, now do we?”

“So…. This weekend, then?” Cedric asked.

“Sounds good.” Harry nodded.

 

“How soon will we know?” Hermione asked. “That it works, I mean.”

It was late Sunday afternoon and the Raiders and their allies were huddled together in a hastily placed trunk in the Shrieking Shack. They’d time-turned back four hours and right now their ‘un-turned’ selves were sitting in the Great Hall having dinner, under the watchful gaze of the Headmaster and his staff. But the ‘turned’ Raiders had used a passage from the fourth floor, that was hidden behind a mirror, of all things, that emerged from the base of a statue that marked the intersection between the Hogsmeade-station-to-Hogsmeade road and the Hogwarts-to-Hogsmeade lane. From there it was barely a minute of flying time, under Auror grade concealment charms, to reach the Shack.

No one was prepared to be seen wandering from the castle to the Whomping Willow, to use it’s tunnel, when the fourth floor passage would keep them well hidden until they were off school grounds, then it was concealment charms that were easily placed. And if by chance Dumbledore questioned one of them, before ‘turning’ each of them had placed their Ollivander wand under their pillows. Nothing could be traced to their official wands and only they and their allies knew that the Raiders had found second, and in some cases, third wands, to use during their illicit activities.

“Well, in the case of the Lestrange men? They’re weak and their magic has been _[bombarda](blasting%20curse)_ -ed by the dementors, I’d say maybe a week, at most. But Bellatrix? She’s was a Black, magic likes us, take that away from her? Days, maybe. Certainly less than the Lestrange men.” Archer felt no joy in destroying his once-cousin.

“I’d be more inclined to say hours.” Narcissa disagreed. “Bella was disgusted with Evan Rosier’s refusal to consent to a contract between he and Andromeda and at the culmination of her ranting, she disowned herself from the House of Rosier. This leaves her totally and solely a Black. Remove that and…?”

“Ooh that’s… ooh… no **_wonder_** she became such a monster.” Archer exclaimed.

“Precisely.” Narcissa nodded, sharply. This **_was_** her sister they were condemning to a magicless life, which the dementors would significantly shorten, even if she could no longer stand what her sister had become.

“So, a week for the Lestrange brothers and a day or less for Bellatrix?” Hermione summarised.

“That would be my estimate, yes.” Narcissa nodded, again.

“I think you lot should concentrate on school, until summer… or at least give that impression.” Bill said from his perch on the arm of the sofa used by Tonks and Remus. “With more eyes focusing on Hogwarts, you lot can’t afford to catch someone’s attention. Leave the Lestranges and the Longbottoms to us non-students. I can approach Lady Longbottom as the Black Seneschal and inquire after the condition and treatment of Frank and Alice. It’s only a short step from there, for me to ask for Narcissa and Severus to assess them, ending with the diagnosis of curse-affliction rather than cruciatus-insensibility.”

“It would be expected that Lady Longbottom withhold information from Neville, but we can encourage her to bring you into their ongoing treatment, after all,” Narcissa suggested, “They do respond to you, albeit in a currently limited fashion.”

“Thank you.” Neville told them quietly, his control obviously shaky.

“Yes, thank you.” Cedric added. “We’ll leave the external issues in your care for the moment, but we’d appreciate updates, please.”

Bill nodded. “You got it. When I know, you’ll know.”

“For now, we’d best be getting back to the castle, dinner finishes shortly and we need to be in place, before our ‘un-turned’ selves reach the mirror.” McGonagall reminded them.

 

January, February and the first half of March passed slowly.

Updates from Bill came every Wednesday, via his journal, and Saturday, carried by Remus and Andi, who still came to the school to give Archer and Harry lessons in what it meant to be a Head of House. Draco and Neville had encouraged all the Raiders to join them, their reasoning being, that once Fred and George turned seventeen, they would be able to claim the titles for Joint-Head of House for House Prewett. Hermione’s parents had agreed to and signed a Betrothal contract between Hermione and Draco and she would one day be Lady Malfoy. Likewise, over the summer Luna would become Harry’s sister and until one of them had children, she would Heir Black. At the same time, Ron would become Archer’s brother and his Heir, for the same reasons. Cedric was the only son of House Diggory and would one day be it’s Head. Seamus and Dean, it was true, had no reason to sit through the ex-werewolf’s lessons, but Raiders were a team and if one had to do some training, they all did it.

Over the months Harry and Draco had subtly increased the actions against Dumbledore. Mostly by using their ghosts and portraits. But they had made minute alterations to the Headmaster’s clothes, shoes and glasses, just enough to make him feel slightly off-balance, physically. Add this to the building fluctuations from the core-runes Harry stitched into the socks the Headmaster valued so dearly, and the old Meddler was deteriorating.

Enough that madam Pomfrey could see it. She contacted at Mungo's and the Headmaster was closeted with healers in the hospital wing, for an entire day. Now, the student body was waiting. Some patiently, some not so patiently, but all were waiting for McGonagall to make an announcement.

She stepped to the front of the staff table, in the Great Hall, and waited for the students’ attention.

“Thank you.” She began. “As you are aware, Hogwarts staff underwent medical assessments during the holidays. Please get comfortable with this, as it is an ongoing ICW requirement, all Ministry appointed staff, including Hogwarts’ Professors are required to undergo six medical assessments each year. However, for some time now these assessments have been neglected, we are endeavouring to correct this. You are also aware that some staff have left us and others have had their duties change. I have the dubious honour of informing you, that there is yet another staff change to occur. Albus Dumbledore has been removed from his position as Headmaster, for his health. Healers from St. Mungo's have found fluctuations in his core and are concerned over their increasing frequency.” She paused while students gasped and whispered urgently among themselves. “Excuse me?” She chided and waited for quiet. “Thank you. Professor Dumbledore will be attending St. Mungo's for further treatment, at this point, how long that will take is unknown. Also unknown at this point is whom will take over his responsibilities, next year. For the remainder of this year, the Board of Governors will administer to the school, under the watchful gaze of the ICW. I’ll hand you over to the ICW’s Educational Director, Master Adam Bertrand.” She gestured and a middle-aged wizard with extremely short sandy blond hair, seated against the south side of the Hall, stood and walked from to stand beside her.

“Thank you, Professor McGonagall.” His voice was calm but slightly rough, rumbly. “I’ll get straight to it. Nothing we do is going to affect you for the rest of this year. Next year is a very different story. The ICW have received many complaints regarding the removal of classes from Hogwarts and the variance between the British OWL and NEWT exams and the ICW exams. Students passing their NEWTs with O’s, that leave Britain are finding that their NEWT scores compare poorly, barely that of the ICW OWLs. We don’t know why, yet, but we will be investigating over the next few weeks, meaning that ICW representatives will be attending all classes, until we have a clear understanding of where Hogwarts stands, then we have to find out why and how to correct this.” He paused and conjured a goblet of water. “Once we know where the problem lies, we can work towards that. It’s likely that we’ll be reintroducing classes next year, but you will be notified once that’s decided. In the meantime, get used to seeing someone with a clipboard in all your classes. Feel free to approach any of them outside of a classroom, if you have suggestions, or if you want to remain anonymous, there will be suggestion boxes around the school. Here in the Great Hall, each common room and outside the main staff room.” He bowed and went on. “Thank you for your patience, now and for the next few weeks.” He turned and retreated to the seat he’d left and Professor McGonagall reclaimed the students’ attention.

“Thank you, Master Bertrand. I suspect that many of you have suggestions for the ICW assessors, please try not to overwhelm them. Now enjoy your dinner.” She nodded and food began to appear on the tables.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Draco nodded. “About time.” Muttered.

“Harry? Question about the socks?” Hermione asked.

“Cast away.” Harry waved and reached for a piece of breadstick.

“If St. Mungo's check his clothes, are the socks goings to show? The runes, I mean.”

“Nope. Not even a Rune Master could detect the runes, with them not on his feet. Wearing them? The only sign is his core fluctuating, nothing else. I tied them into his magical signature. Anyone else can wear them and not have any issues, but him? Within an hour of him putting the them on, the fluctuations start, they’re on a seemingly random timing schedule. I just picked numbers at random and came up with a trio of sequences and as each sequence has a different timing, things are all over the place. Which was kinda the idea.”

“Fair enough, I just wanted to check.” Hermione shrugged.

“Hermione, you were the one to walk me through my Runes mastery. You know damn well what I can do. Don’t loose faith in me, now.” Harry huffed good naturedly.

Hermione blinked. “Was that what I was doing?” She asked and Harry nodded.

“Not real sure, but you didn’t seem that confident.” Harry shrugged.

“Oh… Sorry…” She frowned in thought. “I wasn’t aware I was. And I’ll keep it in mind, so I don’t do it again.”

“Thank you, I’d appreciate it.” Harry dished himself up a serve of roast chicken and vegetables.

“Hey?” Ron waved a hand to catch their attention.

“Yeah, mate?” Harry answered.

“If Dumbledore’s not here, is that going to change your plans for the muggle adoptions?” Ron asked, keeping his voice low and masking it by holding a goblet in front of his mouth.

“No, not really.” Harry tilted his head, in thought. “But I may ask Aunt Minnie to keep tabs on the Meddler. At least until the legal stuff is done and dusted.”

“That might be a good idea. Like Professor Moody says… Constant Vigilance.” Ron nodded.

“It’s unlikely that he’ll cause trouble from St. Mungo's, but I’m not taking the chance.” Harry agreed.

As Harry pushed his plate away from in front of him, a familiar snowy owl glided into the Great Hall.

“That’s odd.” Hermione frowned. “Mail doesn’t usually come over the weekend.”

Hedwig hovered in front of Harry and hooted at him, he lifted his arm and let her settle onto it, allowing the letter held in her talons to fall to the table. A quick glance showed the Potter crest in dark red ink, over the seal of the Potter Seneschal, impressed into a matching dark red wax.

“Oh, what now?” Harry whined.


	14. Chapter 14

_Hedwig hovered in front of Harry and hooted at him, he lifted his arm and let her settle onto it, allowing the letter held in her talons to fall to the table. A quick glance showed the Potter crest in dark red ink, over the seal of the Potter Seneschal impressed into a matching dark red wax._

_“Oh, what now?” Harry whined._

 

Harry considered tucking the letter into his pocket and reading it later, but the fact that it bore the Potter crest and the Potter Seneschal’s seal, made him hesitate. He turned it over in his hand and read the address.

**_Lord-Designate H.J. Potter._ **

**_Hogwarts’ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._ **

_Hmm… Full formal title. That’s either going to be really good or really bad._ Harry thought to himself.

“Well?” Hermione asked. “Are you going to open it? Or are you going to sit and study the envelope all day?” Harry huffed at her and continued to turn the letter over. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Harry, just open the damned thing.”

Harry shot her a sideways glance and took a deep breath, before opening the letter, noting the smaller plainer sheet of parchment tucked inside the more formal letter. He tucked that into his pocket and beginning to read the longer formal letter.

 

_Lord-Designate of House Potter_

_H.J. Potter._

_My Lord,_

_In the process of unravelling the disorder that was left in the wake of the previous Lord Potter’s death, a number of betrothal contracts were identified and investigated. Below is a listing of those contracts and results of the associated investigations._

  * **_Potter/Appleby_** _– Cancelled at request of Lord Appleby. Suggest meeting Lord Appleby and instigating an Aid Alliance Agreement._
  * **_Potter/Black_** _– Valid. Have met with Seneschal Black and an agreement has been reached. See notes below._
  * **_Potter/Bones_** _– Specifically scripted for named individuals that are both deceased, rendering the contract null and void. Suggest meeting Regent Bones and instigating an Aid Alliance Agreement._
  * **_Potter/Crouch_** _– No suitable House of Crouch members, House Potter will not accept convicts as eligible. Suggest requesting a cancellation of contract._
  * **_Potter/MacMillan_** _– Contract stipulates male/female. Only age-eligible member of House MacMillan is male and already under contract. Currently no females within House Potter. Suggest meeting with Lord MacMillan and converting contract from Betrothal contract to an Aid Alliance Agreement._
  * **_Potter/McKinnon_** _– House McKinnon is extinct and as such the contract is null and void._
  * **_Potter/Meadowes_** _– House Meadowes is extinct and as such the contract is null and void._
  * **_Potter/Prewett_** _– Specifically scripted for named individuals, of which one is deceased, leaving the contract in abeyance. Have met with Regent Prewett and an agreement has been reached, as per my Lord’s request. See notes below._
  * **_Potter/Renquist_** _– House Renquist is extinct and as such the contract is null and void._
  * **_Potter/Shafiq_** _– House Shafiq is extinct and as such the contract is null and void._
  * **_Potter/Waterstone_** _– House Waterstone is extinct and as such the contract is null and void._



_As Seneschal to your House, I petitioned for meetings with the Regent of House Prewett and the Seneschal of House Black to discuss the above contracts._

_The outcome of meeting with House Black, is that the Betrothal contract will be converted to a Voluntary Betrothal contract, left dormant but not cancelled, until such time as there are members of both Houses that request it be re-activated._

_The outcome of meeting with Lady Muriel Prewett, Regent to House Prewett, is much as my Lord desired. The contract was found to be a gender-specific contract as well as identity specific, unfortunately, the Potter named is deceased and the Prewett named, is wed, having discarded the contract upon the first’s death._

_After many hours of negotiation, Lady Muriel and myself agreed to alter the selected nominees, from Charlus Potter and Ignatius Prewett to Hieronymus Potter and Fredrick Weasley. This then forced us to contact Lord Gareth Weasley, Head of House Weasley. Many more hours of negotiations were entered before the following agreements were reached._

_Concessions were made in two directions. To House Weasley for the removal of Fredrick from potential contracts and to House Potter for House Prewett’s discarding of the original contract, without contact with Lord Potter, Seneschal Potter or an appropriate legal representative of House Potter._

_Concessions to House Weasley are as follows._

  * _House Potter will fund the education of all Weasley children, currently under-age, consisting of the purchase of personalised expanded capacity trunks, all school supplies, uniforms, fees and one pet of child’s choice, plus the maintenance of said pet._
  * _House Potter will repay the apprentice fees, already outlaid by House Weasley for the two eldest sons, purchase personalised expanded capacity trunks, wizarding tents and cover or reimburse all apprentice related costs. Or in the case of the eldest, William, who has returned to Britain, accommodation will be provided for the remainder of his apprenticeship and a sum of ʛalleons, to the same value as if the above items were purchased, will be paid into William’s Gringotts’ vault._
  * _A lump sum of ʛ10,000, to be paid in full, on or before Fredrick’s next birthday on the 1 st of April._
  * _A stipend allowance to all under-age children, of ʛ10 per month, from September to June, payable on the 1 st of each month. Payment will be made to an allowance-only coin purse, purses to remain with each child, however each child is encouraged to manage their funds in a manner acceptable to Houses Potter and Prewett. _
  * _Any under-age child that wishes to open a personal vault, will be escorted to Gringotts by the Seneschal to House Potter to do so. An additional ʛ100 will be deposited into any vault opened. Any child that wishes to, may divide their stipend allowance between the provided coin purse and a personal vault, with no forfeiture. Keys to these vaults will likewise remain with the child._



_Concessions to House Potter are as follows._

  * _Fredrick and his twin, George, will be educated in Estate Management, to the satisfaction of the Seneschal of House Potter and the Regent of House Prewett, Lady Muriel informs me that House Prewett is a Multi-Head title and that Fredrick and George Weasley are the only surviving members eligible to claim the title and will be named as Heirs on their fifteenth birthday and may claim the title on their seventeenth birthday._
  * _Due to Ignatius having discarded the afore mentioned contract, without contact or approval of House Potter or even notifying the Regent of House Prewett, House Potter is being given the opportunity to foster the Prospective-Heirs Prewett until their majority, pending my Lord’s approval, of course._
  * _House Potter will be permitted to nominate and negotiate one contract on behalf of House Prewett, a time limit of thirty years has been instigated, before this concession becomes obsolete._
  * _While House Prewett may be an Ancient and Noble House, for the tenure of Lady Muriel and that of Fredrick and George, once they are of age, House Prewett will be subordinate to House Potter. This is to be only between the two Houses, in all other eyes, the two will be of equal stature._
  * _House Potter will be granted three uses of a goblin-made tiara, currently in the possession of Lady Muriel. These uses may be for a member of House Potter on their Marriage or for a member of an Allied House._



_These concessions, I believe are in the best interests of our House, my Lord, and while as your Seneschal, I do not require my Lord’s approval or consent to negotiate, agree to and authorise these amendments, I humbly believe that my Lord should be made aware of my actions on behalf of our House. I have also requested that House Prewett allow time for my Lord’s approval or meetings to re-negotiate any issues that my Lord believes should be raised and discussed._

_I am formally requesting an audience with my Lord and his chosen, that their Betrothal Contract may be signed and witnessed. Lady Muriel and I have taken it upon ourselves to petition permission from the Hogwarts’ Board of Governors to attend the castle for the event._

_I write in the belief that my Lord will approve my actions on his behalf, if however, my Lord has anything that he believes needs to be raised, I am his servant._

_R.J. Lupin_

_Seneschal Potter._

 

“Oh…” Harry gasped silently.

“Harry?” Hermione asked.

“I need to speak to Professor McGonagall.” He stood and looked around the Hall, seeing the head of Gryffindor leaving the Hall, Harry grabbed his satchel and darted after her. "Meeting in the study in twenty minutes." He said, over his shoulder.

“Harry?” Hermione called, to his rapidly departing back, but his only action was to wave as he trotted out through the Great Hall's doors.

 

Twenty minutes later, Harry met with the Raiders in their study room.

“Harry, are you alright?” Fred asked sitting beside the smaller boy.

“Yeah, I’m good. I just needed to confirm a couple of things before we all got together and I explained.”

“And what happened?” Hermione asked.

Harry didn’t say anything, he just handed over the letter from Remus and waited while Hermione read it.

“Ah…” She sighed in relief.

“Well…?” Fred asked.

“Please read it aloud, Hermione.” Harry directed.

Hermione took a deep breath and read the letter, her voice calm and sure. When she finished, she laid the sheet of parchment on the table and waited for the reactions.

“Well…” Said George. “Welcome to the family, Harry. I’m guessing we’ll get a letter from mum and dad, confirming our fostering.”

“Oi, what about me?” Ron whined. “Why didn’t Remus get me fostered with you, too?”

“We’ve other plans for you, Ron.” Bill said as he, Tonks and Remus entered the room.

“What? What plans?” The youngest redhead present asked, looking at his eldest brother.

“I’m going to suggest that Archer adopt Ron, like he has me.” Bill answered. “I think I can spin it for mum and dad, that as Archer lives with Ron during the school year, having both he and Harry there outside of school will give him the additional stability that he’s been missing since his family were killed. Plus, there’s the Family Lore lessons, Harry won’t be attending with Archer, because Potter and Black have very different Lore, but if Archer adopts Ron as a brother, Ron can sit in on those lessons, meaning that Archer will never feel like he’s been left alone.”

“Yes… and no…” Ron hummed.

“Oh Gods, not again…” Draco moaned, closing his eyes and screwing up his face.

“Yes, for the adoption and the reasoning, but no, not you doing the telling. Have McGonagall talk to mum, woman to woman. It’ll have more weight. Maybe raise the issue of Luna and the possibility of Harry adopting her and mention the Potter/Black contract. Maybe, maybe not. Not sure. Use your judgement on that.” He said to McGonagall.

“No, don’t mention the contract or Luna, not yet.” Remus said sitting down and pouring himself a mug of tea.

“How will adopting Luna affect you- I mean **_us_** , Remus?” Tonks asked.

“I think Tonks means, you’re still on the werewolf register.” George clarified.

“Ah, but I’m not, anymore. On Wednesday, I went into the Ministry and challenged their registry. I said, that I’d just been informed that someone have placed me on the register without my knowledge or consent and I wanted my name cleared. In turn, they sent me to St. Mungo's, who tested me, using a charm specifically created to identify werewolves. Needless to say, I was clear. Something to do with me not turning into a werewolf but into natural wolf, I’m thinking.” Remus sat back with a smirk. “It took an hour to do the paperwork and I’m _free_.” The last word was whispered blissfully and greeted by beaming smiles. “So, me adopting Harry can happen both the muggle and magical worlds. And Harry adopting Luna as a sister won’t have any effect on that, plus she still has her father, it will just mean that Xeno’s going to have to get used to having us in his life, too.”

“No.” Luna disagreed. “Daddy’s not stable and even after… St. Mungo's said the damage was irreversible. I love him greatly, but I… I... I think… I think it might be best… for him to go into care. It’s certainly better for him physically, anyway. At least someone will see that he eats and gets dressed each day.” She said, quietly.

“In that case, Luna, do you want me to start things moving?” Remus asked.

“Uh, wait until summer?” Luna shook her head. “I can speak to daddy about it, say how good it would be for me to have siblings… and for Harry, too. He’s usually pretty good about doing what’s best for me. Give me a week to say goodbye, then I’ll come over to you and you can contact St. Mungo's, says something like how worried you are about me and daddy, and can they send someone to assess him?”

Remus nodded for a few seconds. “I can work with… Huh… What if I approached WFS and requested the forms for adoption? That may give us a reason for requesting an assessment.”

“Ron?” Luna asked.

Ron’s eyes were closed in thought, his head rocking from side to side with the occasional nod thrown in.

“Get the forms, go see Luna’s dad, now. Get the quaffle in play. Then Luna spends the first week of the holidays at the Rookery. We go to get her, to come and stay with us at Horsham. Remus gets St. Mungo's involved, say that Xeno doesn’t look like he’s changed clothes, washed or eaten since Remus was there last.” Ron answered.

“He probably wouldn’t have.” Luna sighed. “I love him dearly, but objectively, he needs help and I can’t give it to him.”

“Okay, we can leave that with Remus to get started. We’ll reassess after exams. Back to Harry and Fred.” Hermione directed. “Do we have any idea when the Contract Witnessing is to happen? Harry?”

“I spoke to Professor McGonagall.” He gave Remus a dirty look that was answered by a, patently faked, innocent expression on his guardian’s face. “Apparently, she received a letter on Wednesday, regarding the matter and met with the Board of Governors about it, yesterday. They’ve given permission for the signing of the contract to happen here on the solstice and have suggested the Long Gallery under the Central Tower, as it’s where three of the four ley-lines that pass through Hogwarts, overlap.”

“Solstice is…” Hermione hummed in thought.

“Thursday.” Harry answered. “This coming Thursday.’

“Oh, my.” Hermione’s brows rose, sharply.

“Yeah…” Harry gave her a sarcastic grin.

 

The Contract Signing went off without a hitch, as did the rest of March. April 1st, the twins’ birthday, being a Wednesday, also passed quietly. Gifts from their parents and housemates were opened and appreciated.

Before long the Raiders were gathered at Hogsmeade station, their shrunken trunks tucked away in their satchels. They stood patiently, waiting for Professors Snape and Sprout to give them permission to board the Express. Then it was a long quiet ride down to London, to King’s Cross Station, their waiting families and the Easter holidays.

“I’m not sure I’m looking forward to this, it could be difficult. I don’t think mum’s going to be all that happy.” Ron moaned.

“Nope.” Fred grimaced.

“One last week, Freddie.” George whispered. “We can last a week, surely.”

“It’s not the time, George, it’s the volume. You know mum’s going to go off on a rant, at some point.” Fred replied.

“But we know how to cast a muffling charm, Fred, that’ll take care of the worst of it.” George countered. “And then, we’re out of there.”

“Yeah and leaving me to deal with the banshee that mum becomes.” Ron muttered.

“Bill’s already got the cauldron on the go, as far as Archer adopting you, Ron.” Hermione reminded them.

“I hope he works fast, then.” Ron pouted, spying his mother and father standing off to one side of the platform.

 

A few days later, Bill and Archer went out for the morning, as they did most mornings. Bill would escort Archer to London to meet with Andromeda Tonks and Cassiopeia Black. These mornings were devoted to learning all he could about the Black Family and their history, something that Sirius had been denied, once he’d been sorted into Gryffindor. With Arcturus’ death the year before, Archer needed to learn as much as he could, before he claimed the Black lordship.

But it seemed that today was different. Instead of coming home at lunch time with sheets of parchment, today they came home much later in the afternoon with Ron and the twins. George and Fred quietly greeted Harry and went straight up to the room assigned to them.

“Ron?” Harry tilted his head in question, leaving George to settle, an obviously upset, Fred down.

“Hi, mate.” Ron sighed in pleasure. “It’s sure nice and quiet here.”

Harry laughed and shook his head. “That bad was it?”

“Ooh, yeah. And then some, but for a change, it wasn’t mum that was the screamer.” Ron laughed back. “It started quiet, but… it didn’t stay that way. Ginny’s been a right bitch, these holidays. She’s been giving Fred the cold shoulder and being real nasty. This morning at breakfast, she exploded. Went off on a rant about him stealing her Harry and mum was no help, she just sat there watching as Ginny tore strips off of him. I ended up going out to daddy’s shed and told him what they were doing, he winced but did nothing, so I ran back into the house and used the living room fireplace to floo-call Great-Uncle Gareth. Uncle Gareth stormed in and… oh boy, did he let rip. He told mum and Ginny to sit down, shut up and listen. Then he explained exactly how the contract came into place and informed Ginny that as Head of House Weasley, he had to approve any contracts and that you, as Lord Potter, had specifically requested Fred and rejected any other Weasley’s as suitable matches. That Fred knew, but only because Uncle Gareth told him.” Ron winced. “Then he told them, that as he was head of House, he was the only one who could authorise betrothal and marriage contracts and if Ginny didn’t get her head out of her ass, he’d see that she never got the chance to marry.” He smirked. “Mum screamed, pulled out her wand and Uncle Gareth smacked her across the face. He told her she was incredibly lucky that Grandpa was the one to sign her and daddy’s contract as, if it had been up to him, it wouldn’t have happened. Then he turned around and told Fred, George and me to pack our things, while he’d been dubious about the fostering, now he was all for it. When daddy ambled in, Uncle Gareth laid into him, too, and reminded him that as Head of House, if daddy didn’t uphold the Family Tenets, Uncle Gareth would be well within his rights to disown daddy. When daddy blustered, Uncle Gareth reminded him that Aunt Muriel had also mentioned disowning mum, so daddy had better get his head out of the sand and get control of his family. Before daddy could say anything else, Uncle Gareth informed them that Archer had petitioned to adopt me as a brother and after watching how daddy and mum treated Fred, George and me, he was going to agree with Muriel and approve it.”

Bill had stumbled in the door, halfway through Ron’s explanation and leant against the frame, waiting for Ron to take a breath, before entering the conversation.

“Yeah, Uncle Gareth was **_really_** not impressed with mum and dad. He threatened to release Ginny from House Weasley, her behaviour made it very clear that she took after the Prewett’s, not the Weasley’s and he wanted nothing to do with her.”

“He said that, he wasn’t sure that mum and daddy should be allowed to raise her, if they were not going to do it properly.” Ron added.

“Ooh… ouch…” Harry grimaced.

“Yeah…” Ron nodded.

“And it got bad from there. Uncle Gareth showed me the memory and I’m **_so_** glad, I wasn’t there.” Bill slumped and slid down the door frame. “He floo-ed to wherever it is, that Charlie is and showed him, too. So now… Fred and George are Prewetts, Charlie, me, Percy and Ron are Blacks and Ginny is with Aunt Muriel until she starts school, then Aunt Muriel and Uncle Gareth will decide where she’d going to live until she comes of age.”

“Don’t say anything more, Bill. We’ll have a meeting in an hour and you can explain it all then.” Harry held up a hand.

 

Two hours later, Bill finished his explanation with, “… and mum and daddy are living with Uncle Gareth and Aunt Laura, until Uncle Gareth believes that they won’t embarrass House Weasley.”

“Woah…” Seamus exhaled loudly.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Ron huffed.

“So, let me get this straight.” Lucius held up a hand. “Fred and George have been released from House Weasley to House Prewett, on the understanding that they will take up the title when they come of age?” Bill nodded. “Percy and Ron have been released from both Houses Weasley and Prewett to House Black as brothers for the Lord-Designate?” Ron nodded.

“And as Seneschal of House Black, I hold their guardianships.” Bill added.

“Right. And both yourself and Charles have requested release from both Houses, which Lord Gareth and Lady Muriel have both granted, and as Archer’s Seneschal, you’ve accepted the four of you into House Black?” Lucius kept asking.

“Yes.” Bill nodded.

“Which leaves Ginevra as Molly and Arthur's only child?”

“Possibly. If they don’t clean their cauldrons right, they won’t even have her.” Bill warned.

“She’s with Muriel?”

“Yes, and she’ll stay there until school starts, but Aunt Muriel isn’t impressed and is already talking about home-schooling Ginny, instead of allowing her to go to Hogwarts.” Bill went on.

Lucius nodded to himself, before turning to Remus. “How does this effect Fred and Harry’s betrothal contract’s concessions?”

“Ah, well…” Remus sighed. “The concessions from House Prewett to House Potter still stand, but those to House Weasley? Well…. Ginny is sort of… in no man’s land. Gareth won’t acknowledge her as a Weasley and has requested that she be removed from the concessions. So, she gets nothing, no allowance, no school supplies, no pet, nothing. As for the boys? Because Fred and George have been released to House Prewett, conditional to the contracts being signed, they only come under the concessions to House Potter. Bill, Charlie, Ron and Percy have been released from both Houses Prewett and Weasley, back to House Black, so they don’t come under the concessions, either. However…? Fred and Harry’s betrothal contract **_was_** signed almost a month ago and some of the releases weren’t legal until today. Muriel, Gareth, Bill and I spent an hour working out the finer details. Ginny, like I said, she gets nothing, until her behaviour is reviewed in August.” Bill nodded along with Remus. “Working through the clauses in order… The education clause? House Potter has already undertaken to provide some things. The trunk, the pet and we’ve reimbursed anything outlaid up to the end of this school year. But we won’t be covering anything new from here on. Bill and Charlie and their apprenticeships? Gareth had to outlay ʛalleons for them and House Potter has already reimbursed House Weasley and we’re both fine with that. Plus, we did give the two of them trunks that will access the basement, here. The Lump Sum? That stays, we did remove Fred from the possibility of entering a contract for House Weasley and it wasn’t until later, that House Weasley released Fred to House Prewett, regardless, that has nothing to do with House Potter, it was purely an in-House affair. The Allowances? Like I said, Ginny gets nothing, until her review. And the other boys have been released from House Weasley, so no longer meet the criteria for that clause. However, part payment has been made, as the boys did meet the criteria, at least for a while. What has already been paid, is yours, but do I have to get the allowance-pouches back from you. Vaults opened are still yours, as are the funds House Potter put into them. If any of you don’t have your keys, new keys will be provided, the goblins have already been informed that Molly and Arthur are no longer your legal guardians and as such, can no longer access your vaults.” Remus stated and sat back, nursing his mug of tea.

“How is all of this going to affect the living arrangements?” Narcissa asked, filling the silence that Remus’ explanation had caused.

Bill and Remus looked at each other and shrugged.

“I can’t see that it will. Other than Ron and Percy will be living here, too.” Remus answered.

“We should bring Percy into the brew. He won’t be happy if we start cutting him out now.” George huffed. “I mean… he’s been great since last holidays, cutting him out now? Not good. But if we were to tell him? To trust him? That’ all that Percy really wants, to be trusted.”

“Ooh…” Ron breathed.

“What? What?” Draco leant forward, his eyes intent on Ron’s face.

“Percy wants to be trusted… Fred and George want to run their shop…” Ron whispered.

“Yeah… and…?” Bill frowned.

“Have Percy go with them and do all the Prewett title training…, he can work with them as a… a… secretary for a while, then the twins can ease back to their shop and Percy can be their Seneschal… or something like that. Bill and Remus can help him if he needs it.” Ron answered.

Fred and George had a lightning fast, silent conversation.

“And if we tell him about us and our ‘travelling’, we can say that this was a part of our plan from the beginning. I mean, he did come to work with Ron and I, in the shop.” George said.

“Talking of Percy? Where is he?” Harry looked around.

“Oh, he’s at Oliver's.” Bill said. “Went over the night before last, said he was tutoring Oliver in History and Runes for their OWLs.” He shrugged. “I floo-ed over and spoke to him about it, told him what Uncle Gareth had to say, he wasn’t all that surprised, I don’t think. I told him that I’d sort out accommodation and floo over and collect him, about lunch time tomorrow.”

Harry looked at those gathered around the table. “Those in favour of bringing Percy into the Raiders?” All but Juliet and Oberon raised their hands. “Juliet? Oberon?”

“We don’t know Percy, so we feel it better to abstain from voting.” Oberon answered.

“Oh, okay, then.” Harry nodded. “Fair enough. So…? Percy? Unanimously approved. Remus, if you and Tonks can sort out a room and a trunk for him, please?” The pair nodded. “Thanks, guys. Archer, Bill, Ron and I will sit down with him tomorrow and bring him up to date. Next on the agenda?”

“Dumbledore’s been tentatively cleared, health-wise, but his core fluctuations are still worrying for the Board and St. Mungo's. It’s been recommended that he not return to Hogwarts and he’s agreed.” McGonagall began. “He’s decided that the stress of the war and being Headmaster has negatively impacted on his health and he’s not prepared to suffer that again. And to top it off, as our ghosts stopped bothering him, the moment he left Hogwarts, so he’s convinced it’s something to do with the school. But the whole situation has raised doubts in his mind. He’s dropped all three of his official posts, stating that he wants to concentrate of regaining his health and maybe writing an alchemy book.”

“Yes, he said much the same to me.” Snape added. “I suggested that he get in contact with Bathilda Bagshot and collaborate on a book on the modern history of Hogwarts, or a book of anecdotes of his time at the school.”

“Regardless, he’s decided that he won’t be returning to Hogwarts as Headmaster.” McGonagall said, her voice pleased. “Nor will he continue to be Chief Warlock or Supreme Mugwump.”

“So, we don’t have to worry about him, anymore. Lovely.” Draco sighed in pleasure.

“I agree.” Harry smiled. “Next?”

“The adoptions?” Remus raised a hand. “I lodged the paperwork to adopt Harry in both muggle and magical worlds. The muggles are pushing it ahead, they are under the impression that I was Harry’s father’s foster brother and so far, no one is objecting. The magicals…? There were a few objections, but with me being cleared of being a werewolf and having been James and Lily’s best man and Harry’s muggle guardian, the objections are shrinking. And as I’ve said that I would prefer to keep Severus as Harry’s Crisis-Guardian, objections are shrinking even further.”

“And I did the same with Archer’s adoption, too.” Bill added. “I’ve got approval from the WFS to go ahead with the magical adoption. The muggle one, I’m told that it will take a bit longer, but the fact that they think that I’m Archer’s mother’s cousin and hence his only blood relative and that I already have guardianship of him? The Muggle Family Services case-worker seems to think it should go through just fine, but we have to go through each step, that can’t be avoided.”

“My contact said he can bump Archer’s file up the lists, he doesn’t want to move him to the top of the list, that may draw too much attention, but in the top half-dozen or so? Yeah, he can do that.” Moody grunted.

“Good, we can work with that.” Harry nodded.

“Next would be Neville’s parents.” Bill spoke up. “Disowning Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers helped, but there’s still a way to go. I’ve got an appointment with healer Strout to discuss the matter further, on the first Monday of term. I’m hoping that by the end of the school year, we’ll know exactly what we’re facing and how to deal with it.”

“Great, keep us posted, please.” Harry waited for Luna to jot down the details in their minutes journal. “Next?”

“Fleur?” Bill flushed at the smattering of chuckles his almost pleading request got.

“We have that.” Lucius replied. “Narcissa and I spent a lovely weekend with Bertrand and Apolline, just last month. With your approval we discussed the matter and it’s been decided that Narcissa and I will foster Fleur, starting on the 1st of July. And Bertrand has completed the betrothal contract between Fleur and William, ready for signing. I suggest getting that done, before moving ahead with Archer’s adoption.”

“Oh, brilliant.” Bill sighed in relief.

“And I’ve news, too.” Moody cut in. “Last night there was a raid on Barty Crouch’s place, in response to a tipoff, we found a convicted Death-Eater under _imperius_ in his basement and scans connect it to Barty’s magical signature. The Death-Eater received the Kiss at midday, today and Barty’s in the cells waiting on a trial.”

“Excellent news.” McGonagall gave a small smile.

“Plus, I’ve the plans on the Carrow estate for the Raiders and their… outing.” Moody frowned. “You really think you’re ready for this?”

“We are.” Harry nodded. “But you can test us, if you like.” The other Raiders and Archer, all nodded.

“I’d like that, just to make sure. The Carrows are a pair of right nasty little buggers.” Moddy grumbled.

“They might be, but we’re the Raiders and we know how to deal with their type.” Harry replied calmly.

“Tonight, then. Malfoy? Can we use your duelling room?” Moody grunted.

“Certainly… if I may watch, of course.” Lucius added.

“Sure.” Harry nodded, after looking at the other Raiders, who shrugged.

 

“You… but… **_how_** …?” Percy stammered.

“We’ve no idea, Perce.” Bill sighed.

“We still haven’t figured that out.” Harry huffed. “Mione and Draco are working on it, but they’re not confident that we’ll ever know.”

“Oh. So… um… why are you telling me? Now? When everything almost done?” The Gryffindor prefect asked.

“After Hogwarts, you went to work in the Ministry for a few years, then then shortly after Ron went to work in the twins’ shop, you quit the Ministry and joined them there.” Harry answered. “But last time, the twins didn’t take the Prewett title and were able to concentrate on the shop, this time, they haven’t that luxury. Being the Lords Prewett is going to keep them very busy, too busy to run the shop. Unless… they have help.”

“The way we look at is… Bill’s Seneschal Black. Charlie’s doing his CoMC apprenticeship with Scamander. Fred and George will be the Lords Prewett, but they still want their shop. That leaves you and me, Perce.” Ron continued. “So… we were thinking that… I will do the Black Family stuff with Archer and you do the Prewett stuff with the twins. **_Wait!”_** Ron held up a hand to stop Percy’s objections. “The idea is, in the long brew, that you become Seneschal Prewett and the business manager for the three titles, Black, Prewett and Potter.”

“While Ron will be our marketing manager,” Harry said, “we need to turn the Black name around and make it a reputable name. And House House Prewett has become almost invisible, so we need to change that, too.” Harry said.

“And the Potter name is well known, but the actual estate is… well, pathetically rundown is the best we can say.” Bill added.

“Yeah.” Harry nodded. “It’s been let fall by the wayside and that’s going to take a lot of work to fix. Same with both Black and Prewett. It’s going to be a long-term project and require more than one person working fulltime to do it.”

“And you want me?” Percy tapped a finger on his chest.

“We do.” Archer nodded.

“We figured that if you can run Fred and George’s business and keep their Ministry certifications up-to-date in a Voldy-controlled economy and keep them in profit, you can resurrect three semi-dormant Houses.” Bill grinned.

“You’re doing the right subjects at school. You’re hard working and studious. You’re family, so there’s little chance that you’ll try and rip us off. And you know our secrets, so when we suggest something, you won’t vanish the idea without an explanation.” Ron listed.

“And you’re pretty much the only person the twins, Ron, Bill and Charlie all trust.” Harry added.

“But it is up to you.” Ron said. “If you’re not interested, we’ll work around it. We’ll probably hire someone, because we do need someone. I can do so much, but I haven’t the patience or the meticulous nature to handle the finer details.”

Percy just looked at Ron. “I… this…” He took a deep breath. “This is a chance of a lifetime, Ron. Of course, I’ll do it. The chance to take an Ancient and Noble House from nothing to one of the most well-known names in our world? Oh, yes, I’m in.” Percy nodded sharply.

“Good stuff. Every morning we have House lessons, Ron and I go to London with Bill to meet Andi Tonks and her Aunt Cassiopeia Black. The twins go to Uncle Carlyle, he and his brother were supposed to become the Lords Prewett, but Addison died when he was sixteen, just a week before they claimed the title, so Aunt Muriel stayed as Regent. Harry and Luna go to the Potter Wheelhouse, Harry’s Great Grandfather Charlus, has a wizarding portrait there.” Archer explained.

“Luna?” Percy asked.

“Oh, yeah, we didn’t get that far, did we?” Ron frowned. “Harry’s in the process of adopting Luna as a sister. It’s… Luna’s dad isn’t doing well… Remus spoke to him about it and while he was happy for Luna, the next time Remus raised the subject, Xeno didn’t remember the first conversation. So, Remus spoke to WFS about it and they’re investigating. That means having Luna’s father assessed by St. mungo’s, but while all that happens, Luna is at a loose end, so Remus got St. Mungo's to appoint him as her temporary guardian and pending the investigation, it may be made permanent. But they did approve Harry adopting her as a sister, regardless, so she’s staying with us.”

“Is she…? Like you…?” Percy asked.

“Yes. The only ones that aren’t ‘travellers’ are Snape, Lucius and Narcissa.” Archer answered for them all.

“Uh… who?”

“Oh, right.” Archer grunted. “Harry, Hermione and Ron, of course. Then there’s Fred, George, Bill and Fleur. Neville, Seamus and Dean. Luna, Draco and Cedric. Me, Remus, Tonks, Moody and McGonagall. We’ve told Snape, Lucius and Narcissa. Andi and Ted Tonks. Juliet and Oberon Granger. And now you.”

Percy nodded. “Are you planning on telling anyone else?”

“We hadn’t. Why?”

“I think it might be a good idea to bring Charlie in on this. He was telling me that that Welsh Dragon Reserve was going downhill, fast. That Scamander thinks the Ministry are going to sell it. It might be a good buy for our Houses, particularly once Charlie's finished his apprenticeship, set him up there and he’ll keep it going. We all know Charlie loves his dragons, imagine what he’d be like if he had a share in it?” Percy answered.

“Ooh…” Ron whistled. “Yeah, that’d work.”

“See, Percy, that’s why we want you to work with us.” Bill patted the latest addition to the Raiders, on the shoulder.


	15. Chapter 15

_“I think it might be a good idea to bring Charlie in on this. He was telling me that that Welsh Dragon Reserve was going downhill, fast. That Scamander thinks the Ministry are going to sell it. It might be a good buy for our Houses, particularly once Charlie's finished his apprenticeship, set him up there and he’ll keep it going. We all know Charlie loves his dragons, imagine what he’d be like if he had a share in it?” Percy answered._

_“Ooh…” Ron whistled. “Yeah, that’d work.”_

_“See, Percy, that’s why we want you to work with us.” Bill patted the latest addition to the Raiders, on the shoulder._

 

The Express was due to leave London for Scotland the next day, but at eleven o’clock, at night, on the 29th of April, no one in the Lupin/Potter/Black/Prewett cottage was asleep, they were planning a raid and a pair of deaths. What the Carrows had done, had earnt them a one-way trip from their nice damp Azkaban cell, right into the arms of an ICW-supplied Master Auror. Master Aurors being the only beings authorised by Lady Magic to empty someone’s magical core and stopper the channels that allowed it to refill.

And wouldn’t you know it, right now the Raiders had two Master Aurors. Moody and Harry.

But that wasn’t what they planned, the Carrows would die, the time travellers wouldn’t take the chance that the Death-Eater siblings might tell one of their… associates… about whatever curse or hex they’d used in the future-that-was-longer-their-future.

Moody had spent a full five hours testing the group, first individually and then as a team. To say that he was surprised was an understatement.

“Better than I’ve seen, anywhere in the world, Minerva.” He told McGonagall and Snape, neither of who had joined Lupin and the Malfoy, Granger and Tonks families to watch the afore said testing. “Right now? If they wanted to take over the world, there’s no one good enough to stop them.”

“Then we should all be thankful that Dumbledore’ no longer an issue.” Remus sighed. “Lily would do it just to spite him and Harry is more her child than he is James.”

“True.” Snape nodded. “And she’d make it look like the whole thing was Dumbledore’s idea, too, and have him blamed for it.”

“Exactly. So, let’s be glad, the Meddler is out of the way.” Remus agreed.

 

At ten passed one in the morning, the Raiders were assembled and ready to wage war.

“What’s the order, boss?” George asked Harry, settling himself down between Bill and Percy.

“Five teams, observation, wards, distraction, action, and backup. Observation is Hermione, Luna and Percy. Distraction is George, Fred, Seamus and Dean. Wards are Bill, Cedric and Neville. Action is Ron, Archer and I. Backup is, of course our Master healer, Draco, with Remus and Tonks. Moody, Lucius, Narcissa? I want you three kept completely out of sight, just in case something goes pear-shaped, I won’t take the chance of one of Voldy's crew catching sight of any of you working with us. Not yet.”

“Fair enough.” Lucius nodded. “I had a feeling that was going to be the case.”

“I’m assuming that’s why you asked Severus and Minerva to meet with the ICW people in Prague, yesterday, with their portkey no due back until midmorning?” Narcissa asked.

“Correct.” Harry nodded. “They’re both officially… and visibly… not in the country.” Harry answered.

“Plausible deniability.” Oberon added.

“Exactly.” Moody grunted, but it was clear that he wasn’t happy about being left behind.

“And us?” Juliet asked, waving her thumb between herself, her husband and the senior Tonks’.

“Communications.” Harry grinned. “Thanks to Remus and the Marauders and their map giving Hermione and Luna a base, the girls and George managed to create a of set reusable, resettable ward/rune stones that basically can turn any space into an equivalent of the map. A number of ward-type stones, engraved with runes, laid out around an area and activated, gives us the Raiders’ Footprint. It works the same as the map and is tied to a large hide. We used dragonhide, simply for the size, thanks for that Bill, your Curse-Breaking contacts came in quite handy, there.” He pointed to a series of large pieces of what looked to be regular parchment, but were in fact, pieces of dragon hide split into thin layers. “And thanks to Dean for getting us some military grade com-sets, even if I don’t want to know how he got them.” He squinted at Dean, but he still dropped a handful of small plastic bags on the table. “So, if Oberon and Juliet can log a transcript of our coms, that would be helpful for the debrief.”

The two dentists nodded and pull a pair of bags over and opened them, revealing an earpiece with two fine bars.

“It’s not actually military, Harry, just based on it. I pensieved the schematics for the Raiders’ last updates and went shopping for the nearest facsimile, then I simply transfigured them to what I wanted.” Dean corrected.

“You know something, Dean? I don’t care. As long as they work, I just don’t care.” Harry shook his head with a smile.

“Okay.” Dean shrugged.

“So, Obs will be in place, at least half an hour before Bill and his team start on the wards. Distraction will hit at the same time as Bill plans to drop the only visible ward, from the opposite side of the house. Action will be placed ready to go on Bill’s call. Backup will be with Obs, ready to go. Obs and Backup will be here, Backup on the ground and Obs in the air.” He pointed with his wand and a tiny blue dot appeared on the map. “Wards are here.” Another point and a blurry green line appeared, encircling the entire complex of buildings. “Bill and his team will work from here, the weakest point in the ward-structure, according to Moody and Bill’s analysis. Cedric, Neville? Your primary job is to protect Bill if something goes pear-shaped.” A second blue dot appeared. “Distraction will be here, the least accessible point from the house, make them work, guys, but try not to leave traces of your magical signatures behind. Nev, you know how to remove them, if need be.” A third blue dot appeared. “Action will enter from here.” This time the dot was green. “This gives us the clearest access to the area that Distraction will be using, but also the clearest access to the house and these outbuildings.” Harry pointed to each building that showed human occupants. “We’ll take the house and put the Carrows down first, then any other DE’s, before looking to victims. Once the opposition are down, depending on the number of victims, Backup may be called in to help.”

“No, once you’re sure the Carrows and any DE’s are down, get out and I’ll call in a tipoff.” Moody objected. “Unless a victim is likely to die in the next few minutes, leave them for the Aurors to deal with.”

Harry blinked and huffed. “Oh… Yeah…” He sighed. “Forgot I’m not leading the Auror corps.” His pout earned chuckles from the other ‘travellers’. “Alright, alright, I get it.” He straightened his shoulders. “Let’s get this done, the Express leaves at eleven.”

“Yes, sir.” Came from almost every mouth.

 

“Anything to report?” Harry asked, as he crouched between Archer and Ron.

A slightly crackled voice sounded in his ear. “Nope. Nothing’s changed in the last twenty minutes.” Hermione answered.

“Nor here.” Luna added.

“Or here either, Hellion.” Percy had taken to the Raiders like a starved man to food.

“Thanks, girls… ta Perce.” Harry said quietly, but the three knew that their actions were well appreciated. “Bill? Now you’ve seen the wards, firsthand, how long will it take you to bring them down?”

“About two more minutes, Hellion. I’ve already disabled the notification sequence, the portkey and apparition wards and the Animagus alerts. And I threw up the Raiders’ standards.” Bill answered.

“Standards?” Percy asked, not sure if it was alright for him to ask now, or if he should wait until later.

“Portkey and apparition wards, tied to us. Animagus, tied to ours. Communications blocks, tied to us. Anti-owl, anti-patronus and anti-floo, again tied to us.” Harry answered.

“And tied to us, means that only items tied to us, or bearing our magical signature have access.” Hermione added.

“Ah, thank you.”

“Ready for the last ward. That’s brooms, so it’s gonna be visible. Hermione, Luna, Percy are you outside the wards? It will disable all brooms within the wards for at least ten seconds, that’s plenty long enough for you to hit the ground from a hundred feet up.” Bill warned.

“We’re clear.” Luna replied, being the closest to the target house.

“Good. Distraction? Hit it in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, GO!” Bill counted down the seconds to the breaking of the last ward.

On his signal, Seamus, Dean, Fred and George let loose their Ground Pounders or GP’s as the Raiders called them, carefully created glass balls of an exploding potion with a delayed _bombarda_ charm added to the glass in the conjuring. Pulse magic into the ball and count to five, then boom!

On Bill’s count of five, the twins, Seamus and Dean began their attack and the first GP was thrown, as Bill reached ‘GO’ a low rumble that shook the ground and filled the air with the feel of tightly controlled magic. Every five seconds after that, another GP went off, the four members of the Distraction team had spread out slightly, allowing them to cover more ground but still be in an easily defendable position.

“Wards, done.” Bill grunted. Breaking through the wards but leaving the muggle-based notice-me-nots alone, had been quite hard and now the curse-breaker was exhausted, but his night wasn’t over just yet.

“Well done, Bill. Cedric, Neville? Keep him safe, please. We need to have those wards back up before we leave.” Harry directed.

“You got it.” Neville answered, handing Bill a phial of Pepper-Up potion.

“Action, in motion.” Harry said for the benefit of all those listening.

 

“That was gross, Harry.” Ron whined, wrinkling his nose at the bits of Alecto Carrow that decorated the dining room walls.

“Not my fault the bitch had been taking core-augmentation potions. At least after she exploded, I held off on him.” He pointed at Amycus Carrow, or rather at his body. “Who would have thought we’d get both of them as well as Rookwood, Yaxley, Jugson and McNair?”

“Good haul, eh?” Archer grinned.

“Don’t forget the potioned wine.” Draco’s voice crackled in Harry’s earpiece. “I worked too long and hard on it, for it to not be used, Hellion.”

“Half a sec.” Harry levitated both of the bottles of wine from the dining table, to float in front of him and poured a phial of dark blue liquid into one bottle and topped it up from the second, a gentle swirl saw the liquid blend into the pale golden wine. Then a wave of his wand banished a small amount of the doctored wine into each stomach and a tiny amount scattered with the gory remains of Alecto Carrow. The bottle was then let fall from the table to the floor to lay beside the cooling body of the Ministry’s Executioner. “Done. Time for us to leave, everyone back to their starting point and brooms out. Meet up at the rendezvous point in five minutes.”

Harry nodded to Ron and Archer and the two boys exited the dining room, leaving Harry to cast whatever magical-signature-removal charms that he felt necessary. Seconds later, Harry caught up with them as they emerged from the front door. He cast another round of removal charms and the trio were out in the night air. Down the path and through a gate, the three boys ran, pulling shrunken brooms from various pockets, depending on the person. The moment the brooms reached full size, they mounted and were airborne, going almost vertical until they were outside Bill’s wards.

“Clear!” Harry called and levelled off, before heading in a northerly direction. Two minutes flying and he saw the other Raiders, some on their brooms and some on foot, coming from slightly different directions to converge on a single copse of trees.

Time to meet with his family and head home, the DMLE could handle the clean-up.

 

The compartment on the train was crowded, but the Raiders ignored the cramped conditions, they had more important things to think about.

Luna sat, perched on Ron’s lap as he sat on a stack of trunks, under the window, to her left sat George, a familiar journal and travelling writing desk, balanced precariously on his lap.

“Hmm…” Hummed a sleepy Luna. “Where are we? In all?” She asked George.

“Pettigrew is done. Sirius is dead. Davis is copied. Archer is with us. Remus is Harry’s guardian. Bill is Archer’s guardian. Seneschal’s are chosen. Quirrellmort is done. Horcruxes are done. Voldy is done. The Lestranges are done. Dumbledore’s done. Harry and Fred are under contract. Fred, me, Percy, Bill and Charlie are released from House Weasley. Adoptions are approved for Ron, Percy and Charlie. Pending for Luna. The Carrows are done. Rookwood, Yaxley, Jugson and MacNair are bonuses and done. And…” The redhead studied the list before nodding. “Yep, that’s all the ticked off items.”

“And the to-do list?” Luna asked.

“Hmm…” George hummed as he flicked a few pages and made a couple of notes. “Right....” He took a deep breath. “We still have the adoptions to complete, but other than Luna’s we already have WFS approval and Luna’s has only been reverted to pending due to the WFS investigation of her father’s condition. Bill and Fleur’s contract is due to be signed, later this week and Fleur will join the Malfoy household at the end of this school year. Other than that…? Just Neville’s parents. Bill’s in charge of that, he’s got an appointment with the healers and Lady Augusta to discuss the next step.”

“Nothing else?” Luna’s brows rose.

“Not while we’re at school, no. Pretty hard to take over the Wizengamot while we’re still at Hogwarts.” George answered.

“Considering that we can’t claim our seats until we’re twenty-five, it’s a moot point.” Draco cut in.

“Hm. Hadn’t remembered about that.” Harry sulked.

“So… what do we do until then?” Hermione asked.

“I think we should worry about our Families and getting through school.” Neville suggested.

“And resurrecting our Houses.” Percy added.

“And we’ll need to keep a weather eye on the Ministry and the remaining Death-Eaters. If anyone looks like getting out of hand, we can always step in.” Ron put in.

“So, a rough idea of order?” George asked.

“Neville’s parents, that’s ongoing.” Luna ticked off on her fingers. “The adoptions and sorting them out, that could take anything up to another year, or even more, in the muggle system. Get Percy through his OWLs. Remus and Tonks’ wedding. The twins claim the Prewett Heir titles and name Percy as Seneschal. Get Fred, George and Cedric through their OWLs. Percy through his NEWTs. Bill and Fleur’s wedding. The twins claim the Prewett lordship. Harry and Archer claim their Heir titles. Us through our OWLs. Fred, George and Cedric’s NEWTs. Harry and Archer claim their lordship titles. Us through our NEWTs. Fed and Harry’s wedding.”

“Um…?” Draco raised a hand. “I have something I’d like to be considered.”

“Go ahead.” Luna focused on the other blonde.

“I’d like Hermione to be considered for Sponsoring.” He held up a hand, when people started to object. “Hear me out. Please?” When Luna nodded, he continued. “Hermione’s a muggleborn, nothing can change that, but… a Sponsored muggleborn has a much higher status than an unsponsored muggleborn. I mentioned it to father, but he said if I wanted to offer her a contract, then House Malfoy aren’t able to Sponsor her, breech of trust and all that. With McGonagall as her guardian, it’s probably better if she were to suggest it, publicly, or at least officially. But can we at least think about it?”

“I’ll raise the subject, but it’s likely to be touchy.” Luna warned.

“I know, I know, but if Mione wants going to go into the Ministry as anything other than a secretary, it needs to happen.” Draco argued. “Yes, I know she was Minister last time, but she scraped in by two votes. **_Two_** votes. The muggleborns might have voted for her, the muggle-raised half-bloods might have, too. But the purebloods didn’t, or at least… very few of them did. Being Sponsored, the old pureblood Families will see that she’s trying to adapt to their culture and the half-bloods and muggleborns will still see her as one of their own. It gives her a much stronger foundation, no matter what she decides to do.”

Luna blinked and hummed. “Yes. Yes, that’s true. Alright, I’ll speak to Professor McGonagall and Hermione, once we’re settled back into classes. Give me a week, we’ll work something out.”

 

 

May and June were spent studying, that’s all they did. Oh, yes, they still did pranks, just not to the same degree, Dumbledore had been their primary target. Or at least, he had been until he left the school, now he wasn’t much more than a consideration.  More of a, ‘No, we’re not going to destroy the prophecy in the DoM, that might alert Dumbledore and his loyal followers,’ type of consideration. McGonagall kept them up to date on the old Meddler’s condition and location and, as yet, he was not-so-comfortably ensconced in his parents’ old house just outside Godric's Hollow, doing some much needed repairs and meeting with Bathilda Bagshot.

Getting Percy through his OWLs was interesting. Each of the Raiders tutored the, now-older, boy in their preferred subject and some of those subjects came as a little bit of a surprise. Yes, Draco was their best at potions, and Hermione at History of Magic, but Seamus was his Transfiguration tutor. While in Charms, Ron was their best and Dean had that position in Ancient Runes. Arithmancy was George’s forte, which made Percy raise his eyebrows a little, until George explained that getting the arithmancy right meant less need for dangerous experimentation. It surprised no one that Luna was their CoMC specialist, but it took Percy, Snape and Moody by surprise to find that Neville was the DADA expert, they had both expected Harry to be in that position.

Oh, that’s not to say that Harry wasn’t brilliant at DADA. After the Battle of Hogwarts, both men had entered the Auror corps, but upon graduating, Harry had formed the TRTs and that meant that he had less time to work on the practical side of things. He recruited the best that he could, making sure that they were the people that he could trust. And while he had studied under most of them and did have Masteries in Charms, DADA and Transfig., he had nowhere near the time to devote to those, as his team members did.

Dumbing their essays and tests down to the level of a firstie, had been perhaps the single hardest thing they’d yet had to face. They weren’t children and if you knew what to look for, all the signs were there. Thank Merlin and Morgana, that most wizards can’t see what’s right under their noses.

Over May and June, the Raiders used the time turners sparingly, on the weekends mostly, just to give themselves time away from the other students, but they had promised McGonagall that they wouldn’t use the turners during the exam weeks, expect in a true emergency.

During this time, the adults connected to the Raiders had been busy, too. Antonon Dolohov, Thorfinn Rowle, Borden Travers, Milton Pyrites and Crawford Selwyn were found dead, a phial of memories stuck to their foreheads and their left arms fully exposed. Moody reported that he DMLE were at first frantic and scathing of someone targeting fine upstanding people… until they watched the memories. Each person had been interrogated under veritaserum and questioned closely. Some of the first questions were, ‘did you take the DarkMark willingly?’ and ‘what did you do to gain the mark?’. In addition to this, a number of people were found bound in muggle restraints, that few Auror knew how to remove. They, too, had their arms exposed.

Unsurprisingly, most confessed their crimes and were sentenced to Azkaban and some even, executed. But some were found to be genuinely under the influence of the imperius curse. Those treated by the curse-breakers included Mafalda Hopkirk, Albert Runcorn, Sarah Warrington, Jordan Flint, Matilda Parkinson, Stephen Bulstrode and Thomas Nott.

Speculation rose that some of these may have been chosen for their children, who would be in the same year as Harry, while the rest were in influential, but unremarkable, positions within the Ministry. Further speculation suggested that the Dark chose them to create a support-base for a takeover of the Ministry.

But nothing was known for certain.

 

The Express reached London with no issues and disgorged it’s cargo of students, filling platform 9¾ with the loud chatter of excited families. And the Lupin-Potter-Black-Malfoy-Granger grouping were no different… for a change.

They hung back and let most of the other families leave via the floo, talking amiably with whoever approached them. Many students had joined a Raiders-run study group and now each of them, and their families, thanked the Raiders for their help. Parents greeted Remus and Narcissa, their faces familiar from their own school years. A few Heads of house approached and requested permission to contact the Seneschals of Houses Potter and Black, which was granted, but a suggestion was made to give each family a week of holidays before allowing business to creep in.

The first of the Raiders to leave was Neville, his grandmother bustling onto the platform, just as the departures trickled off. The old woman’s face was pinched and tight, clearly expressing her displeasure with the world around her. She exchanged the barest of courtesies with the adults surrounding her grandson’s friends, before practically dragging the lad from the station.

Harry frowned in thought. “Are we going to have to deal with her?” He asked. “I don’t like the way she’s treating Nev.”

“Already dealt with.” Remus smirked.

“What?”

“How?” Draco and Archer asked at the same time.

“Lady Augusta is no longer Neville’s guardian. His parents have reclaimed that right and Frank is in the process of reclaiming his title as Lord Longbottom.” Remus replied nonchalantly.

As one, the Raiders spun to look at Remus.

“They’re back?” Asked Harry.

“Bill did it?” Asked Hermione.

“They’re okay?” Ron demanded.

“Yep, they’re fine. Not anywhere near being up to duelling fitness, that will take a few more months yet, but they both have full control of their mental faculties… much to Augusta’s dismay.” Andi gave a vicious little grin.

“What happened?” Archer asked.

“Augusta got a first-hand glimpse at why Frank and Alice survived the Marauders’ time at Hogwarts, relatively unscathed and un-pranked.” Remus beamed.

“It was very… loud…” Tonks winced.

“And the things Frank threatened to do were…” Bill tilted his head. “I’m not sure they were physically possible.” 

“I get the feeling that Frank would have **_made_** them possible.” Tonks laughed.

“Regardless…” Remus’ smirk grew. “Augusta is no longer an issue for Neville. Frank and Alice have been released from St. Mungo's and, much to Augusta’s disgust, have purchased the cottage on the other side of the lane from ours. They’ve already moved in, but will be meeting Neville at St. Mungo's, they’ve had their final treatment today and from now on will be under Narcissa’ care.”

“Something else Augusta disapproves of.” Bill added.

“True. After their treatment, they’ll be taking a portkey to their cottage…” Remus hummed. “I’m not sure if they’re cleared for apparition, or not. I’ll ask, later. They’ll probably be over for supper. Frank’s house-elf, Mikki, has been recalled from wherever Augusta sent her and she’s taken over the cottage’s care, while most of their meals are coming from our kitchen. Mikki’s not the best cook, according to Frank and Alice isn’t confident enough, yet, to take it on. She’s still too wobbly on her feet, to do that.”

“The plan is for Augusta to take Neville to St. Mungo's, to meet up with his parents, then a portkey to their cottage. Jelli will take over dinner for them about five-ish and about seven-ish, they’ll come over for supper.” Tonks went on.

“We brought them into the loop, their first night in the cottage.” Remus added. “We felt that they needed to know what was going on, Narcissa thought that it might advance their recovery.”

“And it did.” Tonks nodded, with a beaming smile.

“Indeed, it did.” Remus pulled an old leather belt from his pocket and held it up by the buckle. “Grab hold and we’ll go.” It took a few moments for everyone to crowd around and take a hold of the belt. With Remus at one end, the adults to his left, the children to his right and Harry at the far end, the belt was held at waist height. Remus tapped it with his wand and said the activation phrase. “Chaos Cottage Courtyard.”

Those holding the belt took a deep breath as he spoke and held it, while the portkey’s magic pulled them away from the platform. The spinning pull lasted only a few seconds, after all they had to travel less than fifty miles. When the lightning and thunderclouds fell away, each of the children let their fingers slip from the belt and began running, leaving the adults to be more sedate about their arrival. As they reached the ground, the children rolled and tumbled, only Percy and Fred struggled to retain their balance completely, but training with the Raiders meant that at least they didn’t end up on the ground in a heap.

“Home, sweet home.” Remus said as he and Tonks touched down.

“Finally.” Bill added.

“Bill!” A scream alerted them to the fact that Fleur had arrived.

“Fleur!” Bill spun and sprinted in the direction her voice had come from. Meeting her a dozen yards from the fence, the pair met in a tangle of arms and legs and went down in a passionate embrace, completely ignoring whoever may have been watching.

“Well, that’s the last we’ll see of them for a while.” George shrugged.

“We can only hope.” Ron added.

“Um… yeah…” Harry grimaced.

“We don’t need to watch ‘em.” George nodded. He climbed to his feet and made a beeline for the cottage. “Last one in, has to call them for dinner.” He yelled over his shoulder.

“Oh, hell no.” Harry was up and sprinting before anyone else was even on their feet.

A mad scramble and a bit of push-and-shove at the conservatory’s door and a very sulky Hermione sat pouting, beside Draco.

“Why is it always me?” She whined.

“Cheer up, Mione. The cottage has two stories, you can always hit them with an aguamenti from an upstairs window.” Draco offered and a thoughtful expression settled on Hermione’s face.

“Oh, dad?” Harry called across the room to Remus.

“Yeah?” It gave Remus a buzz of joy each time Harry said it.

“Seamus and Dean?” Harry wriggled his shoulders to get them under Fred’s arm. “Dean’s stepdad has been transferred to New Zealand, he’s to manage the military personnel that guard the… Hermione? What did Dean call it?”

“The British High Commission, Harry. It’s in wellington.” Hermione answered.

“High Commission, yeah, that was it. Anyway, they fly out on the 25th and his mum wants Dean to go with them, but they’re hoping that you, or Bill, would consider being his Crisis Guardian and let him stay with us for part of the summer?”

“They haven’t considered transferring him, have they?” Remus sat forward. “That could be…”

“Nope. According to our Ministry, neither New Zealand or Australia have an ICW approved school and the that means the nearest are Castelobruxo in Brazil, Uagadou in Uganda or Mahoutokoro in Japan.” Harry answered.

“But because his stepdad is military and attached to the High Commission, the MoMNZ are prepared to give him a multi-use portkey. It’s up to him where it sends him, here or to one of the other schools and he chose here.” Hermione went on.

“That will mean that someone from there will come here and place a link-stone.” Tonks commented.

“A link-stone?” Draco asked.

“A link-stone is a stone etched with runic writing that is linked to a specific portkey.” Hermione answered in a lecture-like tone. “It can be placed just about anywhere, but once placed, moving it requires a runes master and the linked portkey. It allows long distance portkeying to be precise and discreet. Usually they are placed in doorways or in camera black spots. And they are only used for multiple use portkeys, both domestic and international. St. Mungo's staff use them for emergencies and the ICW has one for each country that holds a council seat.”

“So, the fact that MoMNZ are offering one to Dean, is because of his stepfather’s position?” Remus asked.

“Probably, but likely also because of your Houses.” Lucius explained. “Dean’s father would have had to notify both our Ministry and the MoMNZ of his transfer there and they would likely have suggested nominating a Crisis Guardian, someone connected, either with the school directly or the parent of one of his dorm-mates, which is the way they’ve gone. And, of course, when they said who his dorm-mates are…? The formal request from Dean’s parents, asking that Bill or Remus become Dean’s Crisis Guardian has to be handled via the Ministry, because they’re not asked Bill or Remus as Bill Black or Remus Lupin, but as the Seneschals of Houses Black and Potter.”

“Ah…” Harry grimaced, but it was clear that he didn’t understand.

“This gives a more… official basis and is somewhat similar to Sponsoring, but as Dean is a half-blood not a muggleborn, Sponsoring doesn’t apply. Having a Lord or a Seneschal of an Ancient and Noble House as a Crisis Guardian for a half-blood is considered to tantamount to accepting him into your House. It means that he would be considered a lesser member of the House and can introduce himself as ‘Dean Thomas of House Black.’ Or Potter, whichever the case may be.” Lucius gestured first to Bill and then to Remus, as he said the House names.

Harry and Archer looked at each other and had a very obvious, but silent conversation. Finally, Archer shrugged and sat back.

“House Potter. Archer’s already taken in four ex-Weasley’s. While **_I_** have yet to do more than apply to adopt Luna.” Harry answered.

“Certainly.” Lucius nodded.

“Nothing’s arrived, yet.” Remus huffed. “But I’ll see to it, when it does.”

“Thanks, dad.” Harry grinned.

“We have court hearings in relation to the two muggle adoptions, they’re scheduled to be on Monday for Archer and on Thursday for Harry.” Remus went on. “In Harry’s case it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion, his only blood relation has left the country, but has written a letter requesting the adoption be granted.” He paused while Harry leapt up and gave him a hug. “Thanks, pup. Now Archer’s is a little more complex. Bill is documented as Archer’s mother’s cousin’s son.” He laughed at the rolling of eyes and shaking of heads. “Like I said, more complex. Documents show a blood connection, but Bill is young, just twenty-one. The fact that he’s employed in the financial sector is good, as is the knowledge that Bill also attended the same school Archer does and was Head Boy. Letters of commendation from his Professors, helps. Remind him to thank Minerva and Severus for those.”

“Will do.” Fred grinned.

“There’s also a letter from Archer, to take, too.” Hermione offered. “We got together and worked out what it should say.”

“And one from me, for mine.” Harry added.

“Great.” Remus pointed in the direction of the office. “Add it to their files. That will bring it to… Hmm… Harry has letters from himself, Petunia, Minerva, Moody, Severus and Andi. Archer has them from Minerva, Severus, Cassiopeia, Narcissa, Poppy and the one you lot wrote. That’s more than enough… Surely.”

“Fingers crossed.” Archer sighed.

A pop and platters began to appear on the conservatory’s table. Sandwiches, tiny pasties and pies, pieces of chicken, sausages wrapped in bacon and many other tasty nibbles.

“That’s dinner then.” George gave Hermione a sideways look and raised an eyebrow.

“Ugh…” The girl whined.

“Try Draco’s idea.” Ron suggested.

Hermione frowned in consideration before nodding sharply. She stood and headed for the stairs. Less than a minute later there was a squeal and a yell from outside and Hermione appeared at the same time as Bill and Fleur ran in.

“Oo did that?” Fleur’s accent was back to her heavy French one, again.

Everyone in the room turned to look at Hermione.

“Time for dinner, Fleur, Bill. Best dry yourselves off before you sit down.” Was all she said.

“Grr…” Fleur’s growl was playful and pretty, but everyone present knew that she was just as dangerous as the rest of them, probably more so, if you took her veela blood into consideration. But for now, she was happy and a happy Fleur was not a dangerous Fleur, even if her attitude was an infectious one.

 

The court room was bland and a little cold, but that didn’t stop Harry from being clammy with nerves. He’d spoken, one-on-one with the judge and the man was now reading through each of the letters, that Harry and Remus had provided. One by one, they were read and laid aside, before the judge steepled his fingers and looked up.

“This is quite an unusual case.” He began. “We have a number of different parties. On one side, we have the child, Harry Potter. On a second side we have the applicant, Mr Remus Lupin. And the third side are Child Protection Services, Family Welfare and Department for Education. Under normal circumstances, young Harry would be placed with his nearest blood kin, but… after talking to him, I’m inclined to be glad they’ve left the country and left him behind. I’ve half a mind to forward charges to America and their child welfare departments. But… Harry doesn’t want that. We’ve agreed, that if they return before Harry turns eighteen, they will be charged with neglect and endangerment. If, however, they don’t… Harry has requested that no charges be laid. In his words… He would like to never see his Aunt and Uncle ever again.” The judge sighed. “Not my choice, but Harry is old enough to understand, so I have taken his request into account. In addition, Petunia Dursley, his Aunt via his mother, has written a letter stating her wish to have Harry removed from their care, permanently. Other letters from his school Professors and his father’s police academy mentor, present a close relationship between Mr Lupin and James Potter, with Mr Lupin being privately fostered by the Potters for a number of years. Interestingly, they fostered a second boy, a Mr Sirius Black, who was believed to be involved in the deaths of Harry’s parents… until Mr Lupin was granted guardianship of Harry and demanded his parents’ Will be read. It has yet to determined why those Wills were not read upon their deaths. Regardless, in both Wills new information has lead to Mr Black being posthumously absolved of their murders. This does not bring the Potters back, however.” He sighed. “Mr Lupin obviously cares greatly for Harry and that is clearly reciprocated. Mr Lupin has never applied for, nor received a government allowance, his employment history is varied, but consistent and his previous employers all speak highly of him. However, Mr Lupin has stated that since the deaths of James and Lily Potter, their estate has been left dormant. Upon being granted guardianship of Harry, Mr Lupin has worked tirelessly to restore the losses the estate has suffered. To his credit, he has allocated himself an allowance, one that I believe needs to be adjusted… upwards… £225 is considerably below the average weekly wage and you now have a son to support. The latest government surveys stipulate that the average income for a male of your age, employed fulltime in non-manual labour, is fractionally less than £395, however… the Potters were listed as having a significantly above average asset base. So much so, that if you were to raise Harry in a manner equal to that of his parents, your allowance needs to increase to nearly double the current.”

The judge paused when Ted Tonks raised a hand.

“Yes, Counsellor?” The judge asked.

“The allowance that I believe you are speaking of, your honour, is what Mr Lupin was advised to allocate for his work on the estate, it is not the allowance for Harry’s care. That is a separate account and is not in Mr Lupin’s name, but in Harry’s. Mr Lupin has authority to pay invoiced bills from the account and to use a debit card for Harry’s purchases, but he unless Harry is physically with him, he is unable to withdraw cash.” Ted replied.

The judge shuffled his papers and withdrew a single sheet.

“Ah… I am corrected, Counsellor. I still believe that Mr Lupin’s allowance needs to increase, at least to equal that of the national average. Please see that it happens. Overall… I am pleased. This case may be complex, but Harry’s view is simple, he wants to stay Mr Lupin and would very much like to call him dad. I find in favour of Remus Lupin. Adoption approved. I have included approval for a change of name should Harry wish to take Mr Lupin’s name or add it to his own.”

Harry raised a hand.

“Yes, Harry?”

“I have a dreadfully complicated name, but it’s what my parents chose to call me. I don’t want to lose that, but I do want to add to it.” Harry was the picture of an earnest young boy.

“What would you like you name to be?” The judge titled his head a little, he’d read Harry’s full name and was quite dumbfounded that any parent would saddle their son with such a name.

“I want to add Lupin to it, please. I want to be a Potter-Lupin.” Came the answer.

 

The day of Harry’s birthday dawned, bright a sunny, the sun shining in through his bedroom window, barely filtered by the leaves of the oak that shaded part of the house. The body jumping up and down on his bed didn’t help, either.

“Ugh…” He groaned, pulling his pillow around his head and attempting to ignore his bouncer.

“Up, up, up.” Archer said one word on each bounce.

“Nooo… Don’t want to…” Harry groaned.

“Fred’s here.” Archer tempted him with.

“I’m up.” Harry sat up quickly. He and Fred had got much closer over the past few weeks, they were very aware of their bodies ages and made no attempt to take their affections further than was age-appropriate, but they could generally be found together. Whether in physical contact or just nearby, the two were taking advantage of every minute available to them, revelling in the knowledge that if one held out a hand, the other could simply reach out and take it.

Harry climbed from his nice warm bed and after a short trip to the bathroom to wash and dress, he headed downstairs to join his family. Sitting around the big table in the shaded conservatory were his Raiders. To one side of the huge table were Tonks, Moody, McGonagall, Snape, the Malfoys, Hermione and her parents, Archer and at the foot of the table, sat Bill. The other side had Remus at the head, space for Harry, then the twins and their brothers, Luna, Seamus, Dean, Cedric and Fleur. While off to one side, at a smaller table with individual chairs, instead of the long benches, sat the Longbottoms.

“Good morning, everyone.” Harry chirped as he bounced across the tiles.

“Happy birthday, Harry.”

“Good morning, pup.”

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

“Morning.”

Different greetings came from different people, all at pretty much the same time.

“Dad?” Harry asked, looking at Luna as he bounced passed.

“Yes, pup?” He had a fair idea what Harry was going to ask.

“Why is Luna wearing a ribbon bow around her neck?” Harry hugged Remus before flopping down into his seat between Remus and Fred. Still looking at his father, he leant back, knowing that Fred would be there to support him, he tossed a quick grin at his betrothed and refocused on his smirking parent.

“Luna? Well…” Remus leant back in his own seat and hummed.

“Dad…” Harry warned, his eyes narrowing.

“Oh, come on, Remus.” Tonks huffed. “It’s his birthday. Don’t make him kill you on his birthday.”

“Spoilsport.” Remus pouted. “Alright. Harry? Luna’s your birthday present.”

“Excuse me?” Ron blustered. “She’s my girlfriend, how the heck, do you figure she’s his birthday present?”

Remus pulled a phial of pale pink liquid on the table in front of Harry.

“Luna’s adoption is approved. Signed sealed and just waiting on your blood, for her to drink the potion and then you’ll have a sister.” Remus beamed.

Harry grabbed the phial and pulled the stopper away, before reaching for his wand.

“How many drops?” He asked.

“You have three options. One. Three drops of your blood in the phial in your hand, makes her Luna Lovegood of House Black. Two. Seven drops of your blood in the phial in your hand, makes her Luna Lovegood-Potter. Three. Seven drops of **_my_** blood in _**this**_ phial, for you to drink, makes me your blood adopted father. Just like Sirius was.” Remus placed another phial on the table.

Harry’s eyes focused on the new phial. “How will that affect Luna?”

“Bloody wolf.” Snape huffed. “He’s not being accurate, Potter. This phial?” Snape pointed at the phial in front of Remus. “This phial requires blood from both Lupin **_and_** Mrs Lupin. As does the second phial, that the bloody wolf hasn’t pulled out, yet.”

Remus looked at Snape. “Way to spoil my fun, Severus. Thanks very much.”

“You’re quite welcome.” Snape sneered back.

Harry looked from them to Tonks. “Tonksy? How about you answer my question.”

“You can use the phial in front of you, to adopt Luna, either as a daughter of your House or as a blood sister. Or… Remus and I can adopt you both. With our wedding tomorrow and already having approval for Remus to adopt you and for you to adopt Luna, WFS approved the pair of us to adopt you both.” The pink haired woman answered.

“Daddy is getting worse, faster than before.” Luna said. “Healer Lucknow says, it’s only a matter of time before he’s bedridden.” She sighed. “I know that I knew it was coming… but still…” Ron slung his arm around her shoulder and let her lean against him. “It still hurts to see. St. Mungo's don’t want me coming to see him often, it upsets him and makes him uncooperative. They’re the ones who recommended WFS to approve Remus and Tonks adopting me. They think that’s more likely to stabilise my core, by introducing a Light-based Family Magic. The specialists think it will override the imbalance caused by mummy’s Darker magics, especially considering that she was disowned and wasn’t able to pass Family Magic along to me.”

“Pardon?” Draco raised a hand. “That’s only going to be partially successful. Andi was a Black before she married. If that’s what you hope to get from this, in addition to a family, I’d suggest that Tonks, Remus and Harry all adopt you. Tonks and Remus first, then Harry as a sibling. That way the combined Family Magics of the Lupins, the Potters, the Evans’ and the Tonks’ should boost the Lovegood Magics enough to override what you get from the Malfoys and the Blacks.”

“So… we adopt both Luna and Harry, then give Harry’s core enough time to process the adoption and then he adopts Luna?” Tonks asked. “Is that the order you think it should go in?”

“Not quite. Adopt Harry and give him time to process it. Then all three of you, all adopt Luna at the same time. We’re trying to override her Malfoy blood, not give it a boost from the Blacks.” Draco answered.

“And how long do you figure it will take Harry to process?” Remus asked.

“Well, we’ve access to time turners, so…? Only a few minutes from Luna’s perspective, but it will take Harry twelve hours.” Draco warned. “If he uses a trunk, we just stay out of trunk until times up. But Harry hasn’t used his school trunk since the end of term, so there’s not likely to be any cross over.”

“But how will he…?” Tonks trailed off.

“I go into the trunk, the main body of the trunk. I wait until someone comes through from the conference room, then I turn back twelve or thirteen hours… probably best to do thirteen, give me time to have a shower and get cleaned up, adjust clothes if I need to. I turn back, take the potion, let my core process it, shower, clean up, etc. and send someone to tell the ‘unturned’ me that I can enter the wizard-space part of the trunk.” Harry answered.

Tonks blinked. “Will that work?” She asked, confused.

“It would.” Hermione answered.

“Okay.”

“Shall we?” Remus held his wand over his hand.

Harry, Luna and Tonks all nodded.

“Lets.” The three all answered.

 

By midday, it was all over. Harry had gained quite a lot of height from Remus, for which he was extremely grateful, after all Fred was going to end up well over six foot and Harry had topped out at five-five last time. Not the most pleasant combination, height-wise. Draco had assessed him and after consulting with Hermione had declared that Harry should mature to be somewhere between five-eight and five-ten. Respectable enough.

Luna, too, had gained height from both Tonks and Remus. Draco and Hermione estimated that she’d be roughly five-five to five-eight.

Other than that, there was little difference for either child. Hair and eyes stayed the same, their builds at this age were no different. Perhaps, that might change as they got older, but not yet.

 

After a lunch of sandwiches and fruit, they gathered around the huge circular table in the main conference room, the only person missing was Neville who’d taken his parents home and was planning to return later that evening.

“So…?” Harry whispered, his throat still aching from the screaming he’d done during the time his core had taken to process the adoption potion. “Who’s chair?”

“It’s supposed to be you, Harry.” Hermione said. “But you sound dreadful, do you want me to?”

“Please.” Harry rasped and picked up his drink to take a sip.

“Of course, you know I will.” Hermione patted Harry on the hand and slid the sheet of parchment across the table to rest in front of her. “Fred? Are you right to take notes?”

“Yep.” Fred held up a quill and then tapped it against a bottle of ink. “Ready and able.”

Dean? Will you keep Neville up to date?” Hermione turned to the chocolate skinned boy.

“Will do.” He answered.

“Good. Read back the latest ‘to-do’ list, please, Fred.”

“Sure thing, boss-lady. Last ‘to-do’ list was done at Easter, so be aware, a number of things can be crossed off.”  He waited for an answering nod. “Neville’s parents, their rehab is ongoing. The adoptions, Harry, Archer and Luna. Percy’s OWLs. Remus and Tonks and their wedding. George and I claiming our Heir titles. Naming Percy as seneschal. Cedric, George and my OWLs. Percy’s NEWTs. Bill and Fleur’s wedding.  Prewett titles. Harry and Archer’s Heir titles. The Raiders and their OWLs. Ced, George and my NEWTs. Potter and Black titles. Raiders’ NEWTs. Harry and my wedding. Hermione’s Sponsorship.” Fred obediently recited. “But, like I said, some are already crossed off.”

“And which are they?” Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Refresh our memory, for those that aren’t here all the time.”

“You got it. The adoptions are done. All of them. Percy’s OWLs are done, he got twelve OWLs, eleven O’s and one EE. Beat Bill who got two EE’s. Hermione’s Sponsorship is complete, the Longbottoms have stepped up, there. Everything else still stands. Nothing new has been raised.” Fred replied. “Long term goals are on hold. Everything else we have planned relies on us having seat on the Wizengamot and that can’t happen before we’re twenty-five. That’s ten-plus years.”

“Ten-plus years, that we will need to repair the damage to our Houses and get ourselves set up.” Archer sighed.

“Agreed.” Bill nodded. “And I’ve had an update from Aunt Muriel. Ginny’s been responding well and Aunt Muriel wants to give her a chance at Hogwarts, this coming school year, so she’ll be starting in September. Uncle Gareth and Muriel have met with St. Mungo's and St. Mungo's have suggested that she might respond well to knowing her future is secure with a betrothal contract. There’s only two contenders at this point, Ernest MacMillan and Michael Corner. Macmillan is a pureblood, but their financial situation is almost as bad as hers. Corner is a half-blood, but reasonably wealthy in the wizarding world, his mother was a muggleborn and his father is a pureblood. It’s not likely to be formalised until she’s had a chance at Hogwarts, if she fails, no contract for her, ever. If she pulls through…? It kind of depends on how she does.”

“Both are good men, Bill. But Michael is a better bet, they were happily married for the last ten years, remember?” Ron said. “Once she got passed the fan-girl stage, she was an asset to the TRT’s.”

“I’ll talk to Uncle Gareth and push him in Corner’s direction.” Bill assured his brother.

Ron nodded to Bill and went on. “All-in-all, we’re exactly where we need to be. Any alterations we make from here on out, are bonuses. Even if we do nothing else, but restore our Houses, the wizarding world will be better off, just because of who’s not in it, to drag it down.”

“That’s very true. Just living your lives, will change the future for those still to come. The future of the wizarding world is going to change, simply because there is a future, now.” Lucius agreed. “Take the next ten years and watch. Muriel, Andi, Remus and I have seats or are using yours, by proxy. Give us the chance to see what we can set up, you may not need to go that way.”

“Agreed.” Hermione nodded. “At the very least, you’ll be able to lay a foundation for us. Personally, I’d prefer us to stay out of the Wizengamot, we can be more effective elsewhere.”

“Change the children, change the future.” Cedric told them. “If we… or those on the Wizengamot, can get pre-Hogwarts schooling approved, muggleborns will fit in so much easier.”

“And hopefully, they won’t be cast adrift on graduating.” Hermione grimaced.

“That’s a long-term project, not something we can change in one year.” Lucius warned.

“We won’t be able to do anything about it until we claim our seats and like Fred said… that’s ten-plus years away.” Ron shrugged. “Have at it, do what you can. If we need to, we’ll finish up. If we don’t need to, you and whoever else, get the credit for it.”

“Win-win.” George added, waggling his eyebrows.

“Alright. To recap. There’s nothing on our ‘to-do’ list that we can do in the immediate future, the next is George and I claiming our Heir titles when we turn fifteen. I understand that the adults may have some DE targets still to deal with, but those of us at Hogwarts are in a holding pattern, we’re going nowhere until we leave school.” Fred ignored George’s actions.

“Correct.” Lucius said.

“In that case…” Harry’s voice was a lot clearer now. “Let’s just enjoy having a future and families. Archer and I never really had them before.”

“And the pranks, cousin, don’t forget the pranks.” Archer reminded them all. “We’re Marauders and Marauders prank people.”

“That they do, Archer, that they do.” Remus laughed.

“All agreed? We live our lives and monitor the way the Wizengamot progresses. If we don’t need to step in, we won’t.” Hermione stated. “All in favour?”

“Neville says ‘yes, please’, Hermione.” Dean said as he raised his own hand to vote in favour.

“Ayes have it. I suggest we have a yearly meeting to discuss the Wizengamot’s actions. Any objections?”

No one raised a hand.

“Thank you. Raiders meetings are adjourned until July 1993.” Hermione slapped her hand down on the table. “Congratulations. We did it. The wizarding world has a future because of us. We’ve earned the right to live the way we want.”

She was answered only by smiles.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only an epilogue and a few outtakes still to go, but I am not sure when they wil happen, so will be marking this as a completed work.


End file.
